POV: WHO GETS TO VOTE
The recent amendment to the Representation of the People Act (RPA) by the Lok Sabha “to enable overseas electors to appoint a proxy to cast the vote in an election” has been hailed by quite a few people. The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the amending law notes: “This would considerably mitigate the difficulties presently faced by overseas electors in exercising their franchise.” While the government’s desire and eagerness “to mitigate the difficulties presently faced by overseas electors” is fine, what’s shocking is the complete lack of concern for mitigating the difficulties faced by electors physically present in India.
Do such electors really exist? The government seems to think they do not, but, in fact, going by the latest estimates, there are about 400 million of them. Unfortunately for them, they are not NRIs but MRIs (Migratory Resident Indians), a term coined by researchers at the Centre for Migration and Labour Solutions at Aajeevika Bureau, a specialised nonprofit initiative that provides services, support and security to rural, seasonal migrant workers.
In contrast, while the external affairs ministry estimates the number of NRIs to be 31 million, a UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) survey in 2015 estimated that number to be 16 million.
Why is it that the government bends over backwards for 1631 million folk who don’t even live in the country and almost completely ignores 400 million who are physically present here? The reason is not hard to guess: NRIs have money and are organised and influential. The MRIs are mostly poor, scattered and not an organised votebank.
The action started in 2010. “Following demands from various sections of NRIs,” the RPA was amended to make special provisions for NRIs to get on the electoral roll. The Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, were also amended accordingly to enable registration of ‘overseas electors’. Subsequently, three PILs were filed in the Supreme Court (in 2010, 2013 and 2014) asking for judicial intervention. Under orders of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission set up a committee to examine the issue and make recommendations. This committee, the membership of which varied between 11 and 17, submitted a 104page report in October 2014, recommending epostal ballot, and voting through proxy.
The NRIs were able to get this done because of the resources at their disposal and their influence. Clearly, 400 million domestic migrants who toil for their daily bread cannot do this. It’s a classic illustration of the old saw ‘the squeaky wheel gets the grease’.
Proxy voting is a common practice in the corporate world, but even they are far from satisfied with it. The Securities and Exchange Commission of the US issued a 151page paper in July 2010 that outlined concerns over the “accuracy, reliability, transparency, accountability and integrity” of proxy voting. Edward Rock, a law professor and director of the Institute for Corporate Governance and Finance at New York University School of Law, has called the proxy voting system “noisy, imprecise and disturbingly opaque”.
It is shocking that the government has decided to go ahead with this despite all the anticipated problems just to pander to the loud demands of its privileged, longdistance citizens while ignoring a much larger group of citizens who live right here on Indian soil. How one wishes the government would heed the sage words of the Father of the Nation: “Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything from it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away.”
Why is it that the government bends over backwards for 16-31 million folk who don’t even live in the country and ignores the 400 million MRIs who do live here?