– An article by Maj Gen Anil Verma (Retd) (Head of ADR) and Ms Shelly Mahajan (Program and Research Manager (Political Party Watch) at ADR) There is a need for intervention to ensure healthy electoral competition and to diversify the sources of political funding. Otherwise, it is always the citizens at large who end up […]
Ajit Ranade: Cash handouts are politically popular but what do they imply for inflation, welfare and fiscal health?
Bihar’s pre-poll handouts were part of a political pattern in India. So what do cash transfers mean for price stability, welfare outcomes and fiscal management? Conditional cash transfers are found to work, but a universal basic income (UBI) deserves consideration too. What happens when a helicopter drops a large amount of cash on a local […]
India’s sunshine law: Clouded by the data privacy bill
When the Election Commission becomes a threat to democracy
Once a constitutional safeguard, the ECI now risks enabling the erosion of India’s democratic norms through partisanship and opacity. The Election Commission of India (ECI) was set up on January 25, 1950, one day before the country became a Republic. So, historically, the ECI predates the Republic of India, which is an important factoid that […]
Interview of Prof Jagdeep Chhokar on Bihar’s 65-lakh question
This was interviewed by Herjinder. “Are we to believe that 22–25 lakh people died in just six months, and another 37 lakh left?” The Election Commission of India’s month-long charade of ‘fixing’ the voter rolls of Bihar — an exercise now better known as the ‘Special Intensive Revision’ — has reached its first big milestone. […]
SIR पारदर्शी नहीं है, न ही यह निष्पक्ष है… पढ़िए ADR के संस्थापक जगदीप छोकर का पूरा इंटरव्यू
24 जून के नोटिफिकेशन में लिखा है कि जो लोग 1 जनवरी, 2003 से पहले मतदाता सूची में थे, उन्हें भारत का नागरिक माना जाएगा। यानी इसके बाद के लोग नागरिक नहीं माने जाएंगे! नागरिक ना मानना बहुत बड़ी बात है। सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने 10 जुलाई की सुनवाई में कहा भी था कि आप नागरिकता […]
Bihar SIR: Doing the right thing the wrong way
Expecting uneducated migrants to fill and upload online forms to enroll as voters is a flight of fancy. The Election Commission still has time to take corrective steps A correct and up-to-date electoral roll is sine qua non for a free and fair election in a democracy. However, given the size, diversity, and geographical dispersion of population […]
आर्थिक और सामाजिक प्रगति के लिए एकजुटता जरूरी
Risk of vanishing votes in Bihar’s revised roll
According to a full-page advertisement issued by the Bihar CEO on July 5, voters in Bihar could submit their Enumeration Forms (EFs) by July 25. The article was originally published in The Tribune.
Interview: Half of Bihar could lose voting rights — ADR’s Jagdeep Chhokar sounds alarm on EC’s Bihar voter list revision
This was interviewed by Gulam Jeelani. The EC’s controversial voter list revision in Bihar raises concerns about potential citizen ‘disenfranchisement.’ With accusations of ‘unconstitutionality’ and risks of creating ‘second-class citizens,’ ADR’s Jagdeep Chhokar warns of dire implications if the move is not stopped. The Election Commission’s (EC) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in […]