Bengal SIR: Voters from 3 aboriginal tribes to be automatically enlisted

In a significant step aimed at widening the embrace of democracy, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to automatically include voters from three “aboriginal” or “primitive” tribes in West Bengal’s final voters’ list, sparing them the burden of producing identity documents.

According to sources in the office of the chief electoral officer (CEO), West Bengal, the communities covered under this special dispensation are the Birhor, Toto and Sabar tribes. Members of these communities will be enrolled as voters without having to furnish any supporting documents — a move intended to ensure that historical marginalisation does not translate into electoral exclusion.

Acting on the commission’s directive, district magistrates and district electoral officers have instructed block development officers to compile and submit details of eligible voters from these tribes in their respective jurisdictions. Officials said that in cases where individuals from these communities do not possess Scheduled Tribe certificates, district administrations will issue the documents on an emergency basis to facilitate their inclusion.

The decision follows a series of special relaxations announced earlier this week by the ECI during the ongoing hearing of claims and objections to the draft voters’ list — the second phase of the three-stage Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal. Under these relaxations, the Commission has chosen not to apply the same level of scrutiny to identity documents for certain vulnerable groups as it does for the general electorate.

Sex workers, members of the transgender community and monks have also been extended similar consideration. Officials explained that many sex workers and transgender persons are social and family outcasts, often deprived of access to original documents required to establish their identity and citizenship. For transgender individuals, the challenge is compounded by frequent mismatches between older records and present realities — in name, appearance and, most critically, gender.

Monks, too, face documentary hurdles, largely due to name changes between their pre-monk and post-monk lives, making conventional verification difficult.

By softening procedural rigidity for these groups, the commission appears intent on reaffirming that the right to vote should not be denied by circumstance, stigma or the absence of paperwork — signalling a more inclusive approach as West Bengal moves closer to finalising its electoral rolls.

With IANS inputs