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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.
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 […]
This was interviewed by Gulam Jeelani. ADR co-founder Jagdeep Chhokar says that the Election Commission can conduct the revision exercise legally, but “that doesn’t mean you violate existing laws”. The Election Commission’s (EC) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar has triggered a political storm, with the opposition Congress dubbing it ‘a […]
AI risks distorting information but also holds untapped potential to improve electoral campaigns and processes. To this end, prebunking must be used by all stakeholders Bihar’s political landscape is gradually heating up in the wake of the upcoming Assembly polls with political parties crafting campaigns to woo voters. The campaigns will soon be dominated by artificial intelligence […]
