More women than men deleted from Bihar’s electoral rolls

Home » More women than men deleted from Bihar’s electoral rolls

Electoral Roll: A list of eligible voters in a constituency, maintained by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
Special Intensive Revision (SIR): An exercise undertaken periodically to ensure accuracy in the electoral rolls — involves addition of new voters and deletion of ineligible ones (deaths, duplicate registrations, migration, etc.).
Purpose: To ensure a clean, updated, and accurate database of electors for upcoming elections (possibly linked to Bihar Assembly polls or general elections).

Relevance : GS 2(Social Issues , Electoral Reforms)

In 37 out of 38 districts, more women were deleted than men.
Example: Gopalganj district:
- Women: ↓ from 10 lakh to 8.21 lakh (−17.8%)
- Men: ↓ from 10.37 lakh to 9.23 lakh (−11%)
- Gender gap in deletion rate: 6.8 percentage points
- Largest disparity in the state

1. Deaths

Male and female death rates in Bihar have remained nearly equal over past 5 years (except COVID years).
Hence, cannot explain a significantly higher deletion rate among women.

2. Out-Migration

Men dominate long-distance migration from Bihar:
- For every 100 male migrants in India: 31.4 inter-state, 65.6 intra-state
- For every 100 female migrants: Only 7.2 inter-state, 92.6 intra-state
- Hence, more male deletions should have occurred, not female.

3. Duplicate/Untraceable Entries

Expected to affect both genders equally and form a smaller share of deletions.

SIR relies on households filling and submitting self-enumeration forms.
Female literacy rate in Bihar (2019–21): 55% — lowest in India
- Male literacy: ~76%
Low literacy among women may have:
- Led to incorrect or incomplete form submission
- Resulted in more involuntary deletions of female electors
Administrative bias or procedural flaws in verifying women’s entries cannot be ruled out.

In some districts where more women than men voted in Jan 2024, women still faced more deletions.
Implies:
- Men had migrated out but retained their names on rolls (possibly due to better form-filling).
- Women were more present but were removed more, likely due to self-enumeration and literacy issues.

1. Electoral Disenfranchisement Risk

Millions of eligible women may be disenfranchised due to procedural and literacy barriers.

2. Question on Electoral Equity

3. Need for Electoral Literacy Interventions

Especially targeted toward low-literacy women in rural Bihar.
ECI and civil society must collaborate to ensure fair access to registration and correction processes.

Article 326 of the Constitution: Ensures universal adult suffrage without discrimination.
SDG 5 (Gender Equality) & SDG 16 (Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions): Ensure inclusive decision-making and participation.
Election Commission’s SVEEP initiative (Systematic Voter’s Education & Electoral Participation):
- Needs strengthening in women-dominated, low-literacy regions.
Digital Divide: Online self-enumeration may further alienate women with limited tech access.

Audit the SIR process: Independent review of deletion patterns and procedural compliance.
Door-to-door verification, especially for vulnerable groups like women, elderly, disabled.
Re-verification drive: To restore names wrongly deleted, especially in districts with high deletion disparity.
Focused voter education campaigns: Leveraging ASHA workers, SHGs, Anganwadi workers.
Simplify forms & provide support during form filling in regional languages.