'Institutional capacity must match the scale of electoral reform.' Examine this statement in the context of the SIR adjudication bottleneck in West Bengal, 2026.

Q. 'Institutional capacity must match the scale of electoral reform.' Examine this statement in the context of the SIR adjudication bottleneck in West Bengal, 2026. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

Electoral roll revision under Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 seeks to purify the rolls, but Article 326's guarantee of adult suffrage means the machinery of correction must be as large as the machinery of deletion. West Bengal's SIR of 2026 shows that reform outran the institutions meant to deliver it.

Scale of the reform undertaken - SIR Phase-II was ordered under Article 324 across 9 States and 3 UTs, covering nearly 51 crore electors, 321 districts and 1,843 Assembly Constituencies [1]. - Over 5.3 lakh Booth Level Officers and 10,448 EROs/AEROs were deployed, with Special Roll Observers added in major States to supervise field verification [1][2]. - In West Bengal alone, 60,06,675 adjudication cases arose, of which only about 20 lakh were disposed before the election [3].

Where capacity fell short - Numerical mismatch: 19 Appellate Tribunals, constituted on Supreme Court direction, faced over 34 lakh appeals; only a few thousand were decided before polling [4]. - Temporal mismatch: enumeration ended in December 2025 and polls followed within months, leaving no realistic adjudication window; the Court had to fix a cut-off allowing only voters cleared by 21 April 2026 to vote [4]. - Remedial mismatch: a right to appeal that cannot be heard in time becomes a right without a remedy, shifting the burden to post-poll litigation before the Supreme Court [4]. - Legitimacy cost: unresolved exclusions in constituencies where victory margins were narrow allowed the process itself to be contested, straining trust in a constitutional body [4].

Purifying electoral rolls is a legitimate constitutional objective, but its credibility rests on proportionate institutional backing. Sequencing revision well ahead of the poll calendar, scaling tribunal strength to projected appeal volumes, and publishing recorded reasons for exclusion would align capacity with ambition. Reform that protects the vote while cleansing the roll is what makes universal adult franchise substantive rather than formal.

(~330 words)

Sources: 1. Special Intensive Revision (SIR) Phase-II begins in 9 States and 3 UTs — PIB — Article 324/RP Act 1950 basis, 51 crore electors, 1,843 ACs, BLO/ERO deployment 2. ECI deploys Special Roll Observers for SIR of Electoral Rolls in major States — PIB — supervisory Special Roll Observers 3. Chief Electoral Officer briefs media on Preparedness for General Election to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, 2026 — PIB — 60,06,675 adjudication cases, ~20 lakh disposed 4. Supreme Court opens door for fresh pleas on voter roll deletions — The Week — 34 lakh appeals in 19 tribunals, April 21 cut-off, narrow-margin seats, post-poll litigation