Hindi English Translation || Editorial || ​Band aid: On the Supreme Court and the Special Intensive Revision process

​Band aid: On the Supreme Court and the Special Intensive Revision process

The constitutionality (संवैधानिकता) of the flawed (दोषपूर्ण, त्रुटिपूर्ण, दोषयुक्त) SIR process must be decided quickly

With the corrections and claims (दावा) process coming to an end, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process has seen the release of final electoral rolls (मतदाता सूची) except in West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh which are due soon. The net number of voters removed (with fresh additions) from the pre-SIR electoral rolls in States such as Tamil Nadu (nearly 11.5%), Gujarat (13.4%) and Chhattisgarh (11.8%) remain high. Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are, after all (आखिरकार), net in-migrant (प्रवासी) States unlike Bihar where deletions were around 6%. The high number of deletions, and the fact that (यह तथ्य कि) excisions are higher for female than male electors, suggests (संकेत करना, इंगित करना) that the SIR process, as envisaged (परिकल्पना करना, कल्पना करना) and implemented (लागू करना, क्रियान्वित करना) by the Election Commission of India (ECI), suffered from clear structural defects (दोष, कमी). A clear-cut (स्पष्ट, साफ-साफ) assessment (मूल्यांकन, आकलन) could have only been possible with comparison with Census (जनगणना) figures, but due to (caused by or ascribable to, because of, owing to, on account of, as a result of) the prolonged (continuing for a long time or longer than usual, extended, lengthy, protracted, drawn-out) delay by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union Government, only outdated numbers from 2011 are available. The final figures (आँकड़ा, संख्या) of the electorate (all the people in a country or area who are entitled to vote in an election, voters, voting public, voting population, constituents) in major States where the SIR was conducted indicate that the registered adult population in the final rolls is much below the projected (estimated or forecast based on current trends or data, estimated, expected, forecast, anticipated) estimates. This again raises the question of whether the ECI should have waited for the Census before rushing (to do something very quickly or hurriedly, hurry, hasten, speed up, accelerate) the SIR — but that is now only of academic interest (of theoretical interest rather than practical usefulness, theoretical, conceptual, abstract, non-practical).

The exercise’s lacunae (led spaces or gaps, gaps, deficiencies, voids, shortcomings) and anomalies (something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected, irregularity, inconsistency, abnormality, oddity) could have been mitigated (to make less severe, serious, or painful, alleviate, reduce, lessen, ease) if the Supreme Court of India had ruled on SIR’s constitutionality and compelled the ECI to adopt a more robust (strong, healthy, and reliable, strong, sturdy, durable, solid) — though slower — household-by-household count, instead of depending on an enumeration (the action of establishing the number of something, counting, numbering, tallying, calculation) that shifts the burden onto electors to prove their eligibility. This exercise has clearly, and unduly (to an unwarranted degree, excessively, disproportionately, unreasonably, unacceptably), affected migrant (a person who moves from one place to another, especially in order to find work or better living conditions, traveler, transient, nomad, wanderer) voters — especially those leaving their residence for the short term and married women who have shifted residences. By letting the process to continue despite its frailties (the condition of being weak and delicate or flawed, weakness, vulnerability, flaw, defect), the Court relied on the ECI’s claim that concerns with omissions (someone or something that has been left out or excluded, deletion, exclusion, leaving out, removal) are overblown (made to seem more important or impressive than it really is, exaggerated, overstated, inflated, disproportionate), given (taking into account, considering, bearing in mind, keeping in mind, in view of) the relatively (in relation, comparison, or proportion to something else, comparatively, reasonably, somewhat, fairly) few complaints filed by political parties. But the fact that political parties participate in a zero-sum game (a situation in which one person’s gain is equivalent to another’s loss, win-lose situation, proportional contest, exact balance of gain and loss, strict competition) of competition should alert to the possibility of their relative (considered in relation or in proportion to something else, comparative, respective, comparable, correlated) lack of agency (the capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power, capability to act, capacity, power, influence) in assisting all electors to be part of the list. Also, unlike other identity documents such as ration card (an official document issued by the government entitling the holder to subsidized food and essential commodities, entitlement card, subsidy card, provision card, quota card), passport or Aadhaar, the voter identity card is of use (serving a practical purpose, useful, beneficial, helpful, advantageous) only during quinquennial (occurring every five years, five-yearly, periodic, recurring, half-decadal) elections, disincentivising (to discourage from doing something by removing an incentive, discourage, deter, dissuade, prevent) citizens from trying to ensure that they are on the list. This is even more so (to a greater degree, even more, especially, particularly, notably) in West Bengal, where the ECI’s shoddy (badly and carelessly made or done, poor-quality, inferior, substandard, sloppy) implementation (the process of putting a decision or plan into effect, execution, application, carrying out, enactment) has created such a humongous (huge, enormous, massive, gigantic, colossal) mess that the Court has sought (past tense of seek; asked for, requested) the services of not just the State’s judicial officers but those of its neighbours to aid (to provide support or help, assist, help, support, facilitate) in the “legal verification” process. The Court is seeking (to attempt to find or achieve something, try, attempt, aim, strive) to ease (to make something unpleasant or intense less serious or severe, alleviate, relieve, mitigate, soothe) the hurt rather than aid the process of universal adult franchise (the right of all adult citizens to vote in elections regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, or race, universal suffrage, right to vote, adult suffrage, voting rights).

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.constitutionality (noun)

Hindi Meaning - संवैधानिकता
English Meaning - the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution, legitimacy, legality, validity, lawfulness.

2.flawed (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - दोषपूर्ण, त्रुटिपूर्ण, दोषयुक्त
English Meaning - having a defect or imperfection, faulty, defective, unsound, imperfect.

3.claim (noun)

Hindi Meaning - दावा
English Meaning - an assertion of a right or a demand for something as due (such as electoral inclusion), application, demand, request, petition.

4.electoral roll (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मतदाता सूची
English Meaning - a compiled list of persons who are entitled to vote in particular elections, voter list, voting register, electoral register, voters’ roll.

5.after all (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - आखिरकार
English Meaning - used to add information that shows that what you have just said is true, ultimately, essentially, fundamentally, basically.

6.in-migrant (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रवासी
English Meaning - a person who moves into a new region or area within the same country to settle there, internal migrant, incoming settler, arrival, newcomer.

7.the fact that (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - यह तथ्य कि
English Meaning - used to refer to a particular situation that is known to have happened or is true, reality, truth, certainty, actuality.

8.suggest (verb)

Hindi Meaning - संकेत करना, इंगित करना
English Meaning - to indicate or show that something is likely to be true, indicate, imply, point to, signify.

9.envisage (verb)

Hindi Meaning - परिकल्पना करना, कल्पना करना
English Meaning - to contemplate or conceive of as a possibility or a desirable future event, foresee, predict, anticipate, envision.

10.implement (verb)

Hindi Meaning - लागू करना, क्रियान्वित करना
English Meaning - to put a decision, plan, or agreement into effect, execute, apply, carry out, enact.

11.defect (noun)

Hindi Meaning - दोष, कमी
English Meaning - a shortcoming, imperfection, or lack, flaw, fault, deficiency, weakness.

12.clear-cut (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - स्पष्ट, साफ-साफ
English Meaning - sharply defined and easy to perceive or understand, definite, distinct, obvious, unambiguous.

13.assessment (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मूल्यांकन, आकलन
English Meaning - the evaluation or estimation of the nature, quality, or ability of someone or something, evaluation, judgment, appraisal, analysis.

14.Census (noun)

Hindi Meaning - जनगणना
English Meaning - an official count or survey of a population, official count, enumeration, tally, head count.

15.figure (noun)

Hindi Meaning - आँकड़ा, संख्या
English Meaning - a number or statistical value, number, statistic, value, digit.

16.due to (phrase)

English Meaning - caused by or ascribable to, because of, owing to, on account of, as a result of.

17.prolonged (adjective)

English Meaning - continuing for a long time or longer than usual, extended, lengthy, protracted, drawn-out.

18.band aid (noun)

English Meaning - a temporary solution that does not deal with the root cause of a problem, makeshift fix, quick fix, stopgap, patchwork.

19.come to an end (phrase)

English Meaning - to finish or conclude, conclude, finish, terminate, close.

20.Special Intensive Revision (SIR) (noun)

English Meaning - an intensive exercise undertaken by the Election Commission of India involving a fresh, comprehensive door-to-door verification to update and purify electoral rolls, voter list update, electoral verification, voter roll revision, intensive enumeration.

21.due (adjective)

English Meaning - expected to happen or arrive at a certain time, expected, scheduled, anticipated, imminent.

22.net (adjective)

English Meaning - remaining after all deductions or adjustments (like fresh additions and deletions), final, total, overall, aggregate.

23.in-migrant state (noun)

English Meaning - a state that receives a higher number of incoming migrants from other states than the number of people leaving it, receiving state, destination state, host state, migrant-absorbing state.

24.excision (noun)

English Meaning - the act of removing or deleting (like names from a voter list), deletion, removal, elimination, eradication.

25.outdated (adjective)

English Meaning - out of date or obsolete, old-fashioned, obsolete, outmoded, antiquated.

26.electorate (noun)

English Meaning - all the people in a country or area who are entitled to vote in an election, voters, voting public, voting population, constituents.

27.projected (adjective)

English Meaning - estimated or forecast based on current trends or data, estimated, expected, forecast, anticipated.

28.rush (verb)

English Meaning - to do something very quickly or hurriedly, hurry, hasten, speed up, accelerate.

29.of academic interest (phrase)

English Meaning - of theoretical interest rather than practical usefulness, theoretical, conceptual, abstract, non-practical.

30.lacunae (noun)

English Meaning - unfilled spaces or gaps, gaps, deficiencies, voids, shortcomings.

31.anomaly (noun)

English Meaning - something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected, irregularity, inconsistency, abnormality, oddity.

32.mitigate (verb)

English Meaning - to make less severe, serious, or painful, alleviate, reduce, lessen, ease.

33.rule on (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - to make an official decision or judgment about something, decide on, pronounce on, adjudicate, decree.

34.robust (adjective)

English Meaning - strong, healthy, and reliable, strong, sturdy, durable, solid.

35.household (noun)

English Meaning - a house and its occupants regarded as a unit, family, occupants, residents, unit.

36.enumeration (noun)

English Meaning - the action of establishing the number of something, counting, numbering, tallying, calculation.

37.unduly (adverb)

English Meaning - to an unwarranted degree, excessively, disproportionately, unreasonably, unacceptably.

38.migrant (noun)

English Meaning - a person who moves from one place to another, especially in order to find work or better living conditions, traveler, transient, nomad, wanderer.

39.let (verb)

English Meaning - to allow or permit, allow, permit, authorize, sanction.

40.frailty (noun)

English Meaning - the condition of being weak and delicate or flawed, weakness, vulnerability, flaw, defect.

41.rely on (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - to depend on with full trust or confidence, depend on, count on, bank on, trust.

42.omission (noun)

English Meaning - someone or something that has been left out or excluded, deletion, exclusion, leaving out, removal.

43.overblown (adjective)

English Meaning - made to seem more important or impressive than it really is, exaggerated, overstated, inflated, disproportionate.

44.given (preposition)

English Meaning - taking into account, considering, bearing in mind, keeping in mind, in view of.

45.relatively (adverb)

English Meaning - in relation, comparison, or proportion to something else, comparatively, reasonably, somewhat, fairly.

46.zero-sum game (noun)

English Meaning - a situation in which one person’s gain is equivalent to another’s loss, win-lose situation, proportional contest, exact balance of gain and loss, strict competition.

47.relative (adjective)

English Meaning - considered in relation or in proportion to something else, comparative, respective, comparable, correlated.

48.lack (noun)

English Meaning - the state of being without or not having enough of something, absence, deficiency, shortage, scarcity.

49.agency (noun)

English Meaning - the capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power, capability to act, capacity, power, influence.

50.ration card (noun)

English Meaning - an official document issued by the government entitling the holder to subsidized food and essential commodities, entitlement card, subsidy card, provision card, quota card.

51.of use (phrase)

English Meaning - serving a practical purpose, useful, beneficial, helpful, advantageous.

52.quinquennial (adjective)

English Meaning - occurring every five years, five-yearly, periodic, recurring, half-decadal.

53.disincentivise (verb)

English Meaning - to discourage from doing something by removing an incentive, discourage, deter, dissuade, prevent.

54.more so (phrase)

English Meaning - to a greater degree, even more, especially, particularly, notably.

55.shoddy (adjective)

English Meaning - badly and carelessly made or done, poor-quality, inferior, substandard, sloppy.

56.implementation (noun)

English Meaning - the process of putting a decision or plan into effect, execution, application, carrying out, enactment.

57.humongous (adjective)

English Meaning - huge, enormous, massive, gigantic, colossal.

58.mess (noun)

English Meaning - a situation or state of affairs that is confused or full of difficulties, chaos, muddle, confusion, disorder.

59.sought (verb)

English Meaning - past tense of seek; asked for, requested.

60.aid (verb)

English Meaning - to provide support or help, assist, help, support, facilitate.

61.seek (verb)

English Meaning - to attempt to find or achieve something, try, attempt, aim, strive.

62.ease (verb)

English Meaning - to make something unpleasant or intense less serious or severe, alleviate, relieve, mitigate, soothe.

63.universal adult franchise (noun)

English Meaning - the right of all adult citizens to vote in elections regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, or race, universal suffrage, right to vote, adult suffrage, voting rights.