India voter list revision faces delays in West Bengal and Delhi

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is facing significant delays and procedural challenges in India. In West Bengal, high courts have noted that at the current pace of document verification by 19 tribunals, the process could take over 20 years to complete. Approximately 2.7 million names have been removed from the rolls due to logical inconsistencies, yet only 100,000 document verifications have been processed.

Concerns have been raised regarding the impact on citizens whose names were removed, including fears of being denied government schemes or facing future deportation. Meanwhile, in Delhi, the Election Commission has issued a third revision to the SIR schedule. The publication of the draft voter list has been moved from August 24 to August 31, with the final voter list now expected on November 4 instead of October 27.