34 lakh Aadhaar holders in West Bengal found deceased, UIDAI informs Election Commission

In a major voter roll clean-up drive, UIDAI data has revealed 34 lakh deceased Aadhaar holders and 13 lakh unregistered deaths in West Bengal

PGurus Newsdesk

November 13, 2025

Data-sharing between UIDAI and EC aims to eliminate fake and duplicate voters from Bengal’s rolls

34 lakh Aadhaar card holders in West Bengal marked ‘deceased’, says UIDAI

Nearly 34 lakh Aadhaar card holders in West Bengal have been identified as ‘deceased’ since the Aadhaar system was introduced in January 2009, according to data shared by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) with the Election Commission (EC).

The UIDAI also informed the poll body that around 13 lakh residents in the state never possessed Aadhaar cards but have since passed away.

The figures came to light during a meeting between UIDAI officials and West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls currently underway.

An Election Commission directive had earlier instructed all state CEOs to coordinate with Aadhaar authorities to verify voter data and eliminate discrepancies, such as ghost or duplicate entries.

“The Election Commission has receivedseveral complaints about ghost voters, deceased voters, and duplicate names in the rolls. UIDAI data will help identify and remove such entries from the electoral lists,” a senior official from the CEO’s office said on Wednesday.

Verification process and coordination with banks

Poll officials said that after the draft rolls are published on December 9, any applicant whose name appears as removed from the Aadhaar database could be summoned by the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) for verification.

The Election Commission is also coordinating with banks, which have been asked to share data on accounts with long-pending KYC (Know Your Customer) updates. Officials said this data is proving useful in identifying deceased individuals whose names remain on voter rolls.

“Banks have helped identify several cases where account holders had died years ago but their voter entries still existed,” the official added.

Special enumeration drive to clean voter rolls

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) aims to eliminate dead, fake, and duplicate voters from the rolls. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are conducting door-to-door verification, distributing enumeration forms, and mapping responses with past electoral data.

According to the CEO’s office, over 6.98 crore enumeration forms — covering 91.19 per cent of households — have been distributed across the state as of Wednesday evening.

Officials said disciplinary action may be taken against any BLOs found responsible for ghost or duplicate entries in the upcoming draft rolls.

The EROs have been instructed to maintain strict vigilance and ensure the accuracy of voter lists ahead of the next election cycle.

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