With Aadhaar as the Only Proof, Bihar’s Musahar Community Left Clueless Amid Electoral Roll Revision

Patna (Bihar): Twenty-eight-year-old Sugni Devi only has an Aadhaar card, PAN (permanent account number) card and voter card as identity proof and she seemed sure that these documents will work in the revision of voter list.

But, when informed that Aadhaar card, PAN card and voter card are not valid, she was surprised. “Aisa kaise ho sakta? Humlog to yahi jante hain ki Aadhar card hi sab kuch hai… aur aap bol rahe ki ye kaam hi nahi aayega? (How is this possible? We have known that Aadhaar card is everything now ...and you are saying it is worthless?)” she asks.

Sugni Devi belongs to the Musahar community, considered among the poorest of Dalit communities in India. She lives in Musahar Toli, a colony in Rukanpura locality of Patna in a shed created by hanging plastic sheets on government land on the roadside.

Musahar Toli of Chulhaichak, Patna, Bihar.

She does not have any of the 11 documents – caste certificate, residential certificate, bank account, domicile, education certificate, family register, NRC document, passport, forest rights etc – which the Election Commission has declared as the valid documents for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter list in Bihar, which commenced on June 25 and will be completed by July 26.

Sugni has studied only till the Class 8, so she does not have any matriculation certificate – the document Election Commission has asked for the proof of date of birth. 

Meanwhile, the Booth Level Officer (BLO) has got Sugni Devi’s sign on enumeration form and got the details of the Aadhar card. 

Sugni Devi has studied only till Class 8 and does not have matriculation certificate. She does not have any of the 11 documents asked by ECI for SIR process. 

Rukanpura’s Musahar Toli has about 170 voters but so far, only 50-60 voters’ enumeration forms have been filled. According to locals, not a single form contained any of the 11 documents the EC has asked to submit.

Shweta Kumari, a resident of Chulhaichak Musahar Toli, located about 5 km away from the previous colony, reached the BLO at a primary school with the form, but she doesn't know why this form is being filled. She says, “Form par janganana likha hua hai to humko laga ki janaganana ho raha hai (Census is written on the form, so we thought that census form is being filled).”

She said that she too has only an Aadhaar card and voter card as identification proof. However, she is relaxed because the officials did not ask her for any other document and she thinks Aadhaar card will do the job.

Ritesh Kumar, 30, who resides in the same locality and runs a grocery shop, says that he too has only Aadhaar and voter card. He has filled the form, but no identity proof was  asked from him. 

Ritesh Kumar, 30, has filled the SIR form, but no identity proof was asked from him. Patna, Bihar.

When told by this reporter that Aadhaar card, voter card and PAN card are not valid and that he would need to submit one of the 11 documents suggested by the Election Commission, he was shocked. “No document has been asked from us. This way my name will be removed from the voter list. If this happens, then how will I prove that I am a citizen of India?” he said.

Calling the SIR a conspiracy of BJP, he says, “BJP wants that SC-ST (Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe) people should not be able to vote, that is why it has brought such a rule because it knows that the documents that have been demanded will not be with the poor like us.”

There are about 300 voters in Chulhaichak Musahar Toli. A local resident, 27-year-old Lalu Manjhi, said that none of the families living here have residential certificates because the people are living on government land. They do not have other documents as well. 

He added that the people of Musahar Toli do not know what this process is and why it is happening.

It is worth noting that the population of Musahars in Bihar is 40.35 lakh, according to Bihar caste survey 2023. The Election Commission has asked for the certificate of secondary examination as proof of date of birth. However, the caste survey data clearly shows that only 98,420 Musahars have passed matriculation.

A dilapidated communication building in Rukanpura, Patna, Bihar.

The Election Commission has also included documents related to government jobs in the desired documents for identity proof, but according to the caste census data, only 10,615 Musahars are in government jobs – just 0.75% of their total population.

Residential certificates are the other accepted proof. But the data shows that out of the total 8.73 lakh Musahar families in Bihar, only 26% of them have pucca houses.

A block-level officer, on the condition of anonymity said, “Not a single voter has attached a document with an enumeration form.” 

Social activist Raju Manjhi who also belongs to the Musahar community, says that Musahars are the most deprived community in Bihar and most of them do not possess any documents at all. 

He says, “They are afraid to even go to government offices, where will they go to get government documents made?”

“The government should pay special attention to the Musahars. If attention is not paid, the names of most of the Musahars will be removed from the voter list and they will all be deprived of the right to vote,” he notes.

All photos are by Umesh Kumar Ray.

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