Ten Names, One Family, Zero Recognition: Inside a Metiabruz Deletion Case

“Our full family was deleted, ten people in total. Are we now being treated as foreigners or Bangladeshis?”

This is how a resident of Metiabruz in Kolkata described his situation after his family’s names were allegedly removed from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) voter list, despite submitting documents. His statement reflects both confusion and distress, as the family now struggles to re establish their identity within an administrative system.

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is conducted by the Election Commission of India to update electoral rolls by removing duplicate or ineligible entries and including eligible citizens. While the process is intended to ensure accuracy, those excluded must often re submit documents to prove their identity a requirement that can become particularly difficult for families living in economically fragile conditions.

According to the man, “Our names were there in 2022, but they have been removed this year.” He added, “Even after giving documents, our names were still deleted.” The family, all of whom work as tailors, depend entirely on daily earnings. “We do not have the resources to fight a case,” he said.

Their living conditions reflect the depth of their vulnerability. Ten members live in a small, poorly maintained house with severe space constraints. Their kitchen is set up outside in the open, where food is cooked on the ground, often left exposed and scattered, making it vulnerable to insects and rodents. A stagnant puddle of water, likely rainwater, lies beside the cooking area, further worsening the unhygienic conditions in which meals are prepared.

Sanitation facilities are minimal. The washroom is unclean, and clothes are dried on the roof, exposed to dust and dampness. The ground surrounding the house is damp and covered with moss, increasing the risk of slips and illness. Children’s toys lie in the same environment, covered in mud, reflecting the conditions they grow up in.

These conditions directly affect their ability to respond to processes like the SIR. The lack of proper storage and documentation means important records are often unavailable or damaged. In such circumstances, proving identity becomes significantly more difficult.


At the same time, their dependence on daily wage based tailoring work makes participation in administrative processes costly. Missing even a single day of work leads to immediate financial distress. Visiting offices, standing in queues, attending hearings and arranging documents all come at the cost of lost income.

The financial burden has already begun to show as they mention “We have spent more than ₹2,000 just on xerox copies,”. For a family with uncertain daily earnings, this expense is considerable. What may appear as a routine requirement becomes, for them, an additional hardship.

He further explained that their 73 year old father has suffered two strokes and is unable to work. While the family has Aadhaar and PAN cards, they lack birth and school certificates. They also claim to possess older documents, including a 1999 death certificate, mutation papers, house documents from 1953 and maintain that their names were part of earlier voter lists. The women of the household also voiced their distress , expressing a sense of helplessness and frustration . The mother said , “ We have voted in the past . Even after submitting all our documents , they are still refusing to restore our voting rights .” Her statement reflects a deeper sense of exclusion as the family struggles to understand why their identity is being questioned despite prior recognition . 

Alleging that the deletions were not accidental, the man said, “I think our names are being deleted deliberately,” though this claim could not be independently verified.
Despite the uncertainty, he expressed political loyalty towards the All India Trinamool Congress stating, “As long as Didi is there, we are with her, as her soldiers. Even after deletion, we will stand by her.”

This case illustrates how administrative exercises like the SIR, while aimed at maintaining accurate electoral rolls, can have uneven impacts. For families living in precarious conditions, the process of proving identity is shaped not just by documentation, but by poverty, unstable income, and living environments that make compliance difficult. In such cases, deletion from official records becomes more than a bureaucratic issue it becomes a question of identity, dignity, and access to democratic rights.