Bihar migrants in Bengaluru fear SIR may cost welfare

BENGALURU: Migrant labourers from Bihar who find their earnings in Bengaluru are anxious about the Election Commissions Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Many are unaware of the process, while others fear that failing to complete it could affect the rations and welfare benefits their families depend on back home. According to SIR, if a name is missing, the burden is on the voter to file two forms with supporting documents before September 1. Many migrants said they were unaware of the forms or did not know how to fill them out. Most of them whom TNIE spoke to said they go in groups during October or November during the Chhath Puja, one of the most important festivals in Bihar, and return by January or February, and for that they work and save throughout the year. Hence, travelling now is unrealistic. The SIR, undertaken ahead of Assembly elections expected in November, has triggered confusion among workers who say they are determined to remain on the rolls but do not know how to comply. To SIR, with love? Supreme Court's Bihar voter roll verdict and the battle for Democracy Workers say they repeatedly linked the voter list to ration access in their villages. If our name is missing there, the dealer asks questions. We work in dire situations only for food and minimum wages, Mahesh, a worker from Darbhanga said. Another construction worker, Zakhir from Madhubani, said that going now means two weeks without wages. No contractor will give leave. Workers in Bengaluru travel back to Bihar via a combination of trains, and sometimes they take a bus to Howrah in Kolkata and from there, a Bihar-bound train. This takes over 50 hours and costs them their one days income - Rs 450-500. Here we all are, illiterate or semi-literate and reliant on daily wages, and time spent on applications means an immediate loss of income. If we knew how to read or write, we would not have been here, Duggu, a worker from Samastipur said. Many workers preferred the older practice of accepting Aadhaar or existing voter IDs to confirm entries. Workers pointed out that those most at risk are daily-wage earners, often from Dalits and Muslims and demand that the government must tell them what to do.