Congress links SIR to welfare access, alleges move could exclude beneficiaries

Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh. | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR Linking the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls with a Union Minister’s recent remarks that a voter ID will replace Aadhaar for identifying beneficiaries for social welfare programmes, the Congress on Thursday (November 5, 2026) criticised the Centre stating that this move will exclude people on a “massive scale”.Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said ‘vote chori (theft)’ is just the trailer and the full picture is haq-huqooq (rights) chori’.Union Panchayati Raj Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, alias Lallan Singh, last week said that access to financial benefits and welfare payments under schemes of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj will now require an Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number along with mandatory biometric authentication, since, he argued, Aadhaar is easily made at every street corner, implying the possibility of fraudulent beneficiaries through the use of Aadhaar. He repeated the comments again in Sikkim on Tuesday (November 3).Official policy?Reacting to his comments, Mr. Ramesh said: “Over the past few days, the Union Minister of Panchayati Raj has said not once but twice that voter ID will replace Aadhaar for identifying beneficiaries for social welfare programmes. Is this now the official Modi govt. policy?”If indeed it is, then it means that Aadhaar will not be used for the primary purpose for which it was conceived and intended, he said.There have been legitimate concerns that, in the way Aadhaar has been used, lakhs have been denied access to social welfare and security schemes, the Congress leader said.“Making SIR the basis will end up excluding even more people on a massive scale,” he said. “Vote chori is just the trailer. The full picture is haq-huqooq chori,” Mr. Ramesh added. Published - November 05, 2026 06:22 pm IST