34 lakh Aadhaar card holders identified as 'deceased' in West Bengal, UIDAI informs EC

Kolkata, Nov 12 (PTI) About 34 lakh Aadhaar card holders in West Bengal have been found to be 'deceased' since the identity card was introduced in January 2009, UIDAI authorities informed the Election Commission on Wednesday.

The UIDAI authorities also communicated to the EC that about 13 lakh people in the state never possessed Aadhaar cards, but have since died.

The information was shared during a meeting between officials of UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) and the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal, amid the ongoing enumeration exercise of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The meeting followed an EC directive asking all state CEOs to coordinate with Aadhaar authorities to verify voter data and identify discrepancies.

"The EC has received numerous complaints regarding ghost voters, deceased voters, absentee voters, and duplicate names in the rolls. The UIDAI data on deceased citizens is expected to help us in detecting and removing such entries from the electoral rolls," a top official from the CEO's office said.

Following the enumeration phase and publication of the draft rolls on December 9, if applicants are found to have submitted forms with names that have been removed from the Aadhaar database, they could be summoned by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) concerned for verification, he said.

Poll officials said they were also gathering information from banks since Aadhaar is linked to most accounts.

"Banks have provided data on accounts where KYC updates have not been completed for years, aiding the identification of deceased individuals whose names still appear on voter rolls," the official said.

The SIR process is currently in progress across West Bengal to root out dead and fake voters. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are conducting door-to-door verification by distributing enumeration forms based on the 2025 electoral rolls and by subsequently mapping the data provided by applicants in those forms with the 2002 electoral rolls when the exercise was last held.

According to information from the CEO's office, more than 6.98 crore (91.19 per cent) Enumeration Forms have been distributed in the state till 8 pm on Wednesday.

The presence of ghost, deceased, or duplicate voters in the draft roll may lead to disciplinary action against the responsible BLOs, officials said.

The Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) have been instructed to ensure accuracy and vigilance in the verification process, they said.

Till reports last received, a virtual meeting to review the progress in the exercise and assess pending areas for form distribution was underway between the CEO and the EROs. PTI SCH SMY SOM