The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal in 2025–26 revealed both the necessity of electoral hygiene and the risks of mass administrative processes to individual rights. Critically examine.

Q. The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal in 2025–26 revealed both the necessity of electoral hygiene and the risks of mass administrative processes to individual rights. Critically examine. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

A Special Intensive Revision is a house-to-house re-verification of electoral rolls conducted by the ECI under Article 324 and Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. West Bengal's 2025–26 SIR was both a genuine cleansing exercise and a stress test of individual due process.

The case for electoral hygiene - Enumeration flagged roughly 15.53 lakh dead voters in West Bengal alone, exposing the decay of a roll last intensively revised in 2002 [2]. - Bloated rolls dilute the integrity of Article 326 adult suffrage; purification directly serves free and fair elections. - The scale was unprecedented — Phase-II covered 9 States and 3 UTs, 321 districts, 1,843 Assembly Constituencies and about 51 crore electors, with over 5.3 lakh BLOs deployed [1]. - The Supreme Court declined to halt it, directing in February 2026 that the revision continue without hindrance while adjusting timelines — judicial endorsement of the exercise's legitimacy [5].

The risks to individual rights - Mechanical anomaly-detection without risk-stratification: an ERO portal flag on an implausible age gap with a parent produced a hearing notice to Prof. Amartya Sen, a nonagenarian Nobel laureate then abroad [3]. If clerical triggers can misfire on the most documented citizen, the vulnerable are far more exposed. - Burden of proof shifts to the elector — the migrant, the elderly and the undocumented poor bear the heaviest documentation cost, risking exclusion by administrative default rather than ineligibility. - Federal and political friction: deployment of additional Special Roll Observers from central services amid State objections fed perceptions of partisanship, eroding trust in the ECI's neutrality [4].

Electoral hygiene and voter dignity are complements, not rivals. Rolls must be purified, but through calibrated flagging, longer response windows, assisted verification for the elderly, and transparent appellate remedies before any deletion. A roll that is both accurate and inclusive is the truest guarantee of the universal franchise Article 326 promises.

(~320 words)

Sources: 1. Special Intensive Revision (SIR) Phase-II begins in 9 States and 3 UTs — PIB — Article 324 basis; coverage of 9 States/3 UTs, 321 districts, 1,843 ACs, ~51 crore electors, BLO deployment 2. West Bengal Identifies 15.53 Lakh Dead Voters During Special Intensive Revision — Akashvani/DD News — scale of dead voters detected 3. "SIR hearing notice issued to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen" — The Hindu, 8 January 2026 (print edition; no verifiable online link) — notice to Prof. Sen over flagged age discrepancy 4. ECI Appoints Four Additional Special Roll Observers to Monitor Voter List Update in West Bengal — DD News On Air — central oversight amid Centre–State friction 5. Supreme Court directs SIR of electoral rolls in West Bengal to continue without any hindrance — DD News On Air — judicial oversight and continuation of the exercise