SIR-deleted can’t avail govt schemes, says Bengal govt; Bihar CM talks of ‘cancelling bank passbooks’

Holding a press conference after the meeting, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said: “All social programmes of the government, which may have been started 30 years or 10 years back, will continue. However, all such schemes will now function through a transparent process. No deceased person, illegal infiltrator, or non-Indian individual will be allowed to avail benefits meant for citizens of the state.”

Speaking to The Indian Express in Patna, Bihar CM Samrat Choudhary told The Indian Express: “People whose names have been deleted from the Bihar electoral roll will not be entitled to any government benefits, including ration and other welfare schemes.”

As per Choudhary, “Bank passbooks of those deleted would also be cancelled in due course of time.”

Asked whether his government had issued any orders in this regard, Choudhary said there were no doubts about the course of action.

 

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Bihar Food and Consumer Protection Minister Ashok Choudhary told The Indian Express: “Names of about five lakh people have been deleted from among ration-card holders post-SIR in the state.”

Clarifying what Adhikari meant by “non-Indians”, Bengal Minister for Food and Supplies Ashok Kirtania told The Indian Express: “It is clear that those names which are being looked into by the tribunals will be able to avail government schemes. Those who have applied under the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) for citizenship can also avail all government schemes… But those whose names have been deleted via the SIR cannot avail government schemes.”

Kirtania said he had already held a meeting with his department officials “to conduct a drive to check ration cards” to weed out those deleted under the SIR. “Many ration cards are held under names of those dead or people who are not Indians.”

Describing those deleted as “illegal infiltrators”, Kirtania, a Matua leader, emphasised that those who qualify under the CAA are being told to apply for citizenship. (Most of the CAA applicants in Bengal are Matuas, who came to India from Bangladesh).

Speaking with mediapersons Monday, Bengal Minister for Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Agnimitra Paul said: “We will analyse… Those whose names have been deleted are not citizens of the country or are dead… They cannot get the benefit of government schemes.”

Matters related to citizenship, including deprivation of citizenship, are governed by the Citizenship Act, 1955, and it is the Union Home Ministry that has the power to declare somebody a foreigner or revoke citizenship. During the Supreme Court hearings on the SIR, where the question of whether it is a test of citizenship has been debated, the Election Commission of India has been clear that though it does not have the power to determine citizenship, its right to “verify” citizenship status flows from Article 326 of the Constitution, which says Indian citizens above the age of 18 years can be registered as electors.

In fact, in its counter-affidavit filed in the court in July last year, the ECI had underlined this point, while adding: “Under the SIR exercise, the citizenship of an individual will not terminate on account of the fact that he / she is held to be ineligible for registration in the electoral rolls.”

Before the SIR process began, Bengal had 7.66 crore voters. After the SIR, there were 58.20 lakh deletions initially, which rose to around 91 lakh after adjudication of “logical discrepancy cases” (an exercise done only for Bengal). Bihar saw around 68 lakh deletions.

After the EC set up 19 Appellate Tribunals in West Bengal on March 20 on orders of the court, over 34 lakh appeals against exclusions and inclusions were filed. The slow-moving process meant that before the state polls, only 1,607 names of those deleted after adjudication could be added back to the electoral roll, while 14 more names were deleted.

Md Yasin Mahaladar, a resident of Mahiram Kabirajtolla in Malda and an advocate, is among those whose case is before the tribunals. “If my name gets deleted, will I no longer be an Indian citizen?” Mahaldar said. “What the government is doing is illegal… A voter card is not proof of citizenship. Will I lose my ration card, Aadhar card and other documents as well?”

What was the government’s plan for those deleted from the electoral roll, he asked. “Will they put such people in detention camps? Will they throw us into the sea or push us into Bangladesh or Pakistan?”

Saharul Islam, a resident of Bhagabangola in Murshidabad, who is back at his work site in Sambalpur in Odisha where he is employed as a mason, is also waiting for the tribunals to decide his case. “My name as well as that of seven others of my 13-member family is before the tribunals. The decision of the government has left us in panic. I avail the Krishak Bandhu scheme (Rs 2,000 per six months) and my wife gets Lakshmir Bhandar. That money is crucial for us.”

Added Islam: “I already live under fear that someone may ask for my voter card and put me in jail… I don’t know what I will do.”

Mosab Ali, a resident of Suti in Murshidabad, said: “It is against the Supreme Court’s order. The government cannot target individuals like this. My mother Fatema Bibi gets Laksmir Bhandar benefit. Her name was deleted under the SIR and is now under the consideration of the tribunals. How can she be excluded from the benefits? She has been a citizen of India since her birth.”

CPI(M) state secretary Md Selim said this is what they feared would happen after the SIR. “The Supreme Court has made it clear that a voter card is not a proof of citizenship. The EC assured us that names in the electoral list were not proof of citizenship… The cat is out of the bag. How can deletions mean people are not citizens?… Many names have been deleted because of a spelling mismatch.”

TMC Lok Sabha MP Sougata Roy said: “Such exclusion from benefits… being dubbed non-citizens… is unjust and unfair. So many questions have been raised over the SIR process.”