Over 34 Lakh Aadhaar Holders In Bengal Marked As Deceased, UIDAI Tells Election Commission

Around 34 lakh Aadhaar card holders in West Bengal have been identified as deceased since the identity document’s rollout in January 2009, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) informed the Election Commission (EC) during a meeting with state election officials, reported PTI.

UIDAI also conveyed that nearly 13 lakh individuals in the state who never held Aadhaar cards have since passed away. The information was shared with the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The meeting followed an EC directive instructing all state CEOs to work with Aadhaar authorities to cross-check voter databases and flag inconsistencies. “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 senior official from the CEO’s office said, according to PTI.

Officials said that once the enumeration phase concludes and the draft rolls are published on 9 December, applicants whose names match those deleted from the Aadhaar database may be called by the concerned Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) for verification.

Poll officials are also sourcing data from banks, as 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 added.

The SIR process is currently underway across West Bengal to eliminate fake or deceased voters. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are conducting door-to-door verification, distributing enumeration forms based on the 2025 electoral rolls, and comparing them with data from the 2002 rolls, when the last such exercise was conducted.

According to information from the CEO’s office, more than 6.98 crore enumeration forms—covering about 91.19 per cent of households—had been distributed in the state till 8 pm on Wednesday.

Officials said that the appearance of ghost, duplicate, or deceased voters in the draft rolls could result in disciplinary action against the responsible BLOs. EROs have been directed to maintain vigilance and accuracy during the verification process.

As of late Wednesday, the CEO was holding a virtual meeting with EROs to review progress and assess pending areas in the form distribution exercise, PTI reported.

(With inputs from PTI)