Ahead of SIR, 2,000 Nepalese wives in U’khand border fear voter-list exclusion

Pithoragarh: Around 2,000 Nepalese women married to locals in Pithoragarh district face uncertainty as Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls begins in Uttarakhand, with door-to-door verification set to start on June 8, because many of them are neither enrolled as Indian citizens nor able to access basic documents and welfare benefits after marriage.

The problem, residents and social workers said, stems from the long citizenship process and the documentation gap that follows cross-border marriages in the hills. Nepalese nationals married to Indian citizens can apply for Indian citizenship by registration under Citizenship Act, 1955, but social workers said many women in border villages either do not know the process, do not have the required documents, or surrender Nepalese citizenship while waiting for Indian citizenship, leaving them without secure legal identity during the intervening period.

Manisha Pande, who married Pithoragarh resident Vikrant three years ago, said she had been left without nationality even as her child had legal status in India. “My one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, born in India, is an Indian citizen, but I am stateless. I surrendered my Nepalese citizenship, but I have not got Indian citizenship,” she said.

Jagdish Kaloni, a social worker, said the consequences were visible in daily life because documentation determines access to most services. “Without Indian citizenship, these women cannot get Aadhaar cards, and without Aadhaar, they struggle to open bank accounts, access ration schemes and avail several govt services,” Kaloni said. He added that many marriages had not been registered under Uniform Civil Code (UCC), further complicating the process of proving marital status and applying for citizenship.

Kaloni said the issue was not limited to Pithoragarh alone and affected other border districts of Uttarakhand where cross-border marriages have long been part of social life. “This problem is not only of Pithoragarh but of other border districts as well. Indian govt must address it because these women are living here with families but remain invisible in the system,” he said.

The SIR exercise has sharpened the concern because voter-list inclusion is limited to Indian citizens. Election Commission of India directed Phase-III SIR in 16 states and 3 Union Territories, including Uttarakhand, where the exercise covers nearly 79.8 lakh electors, and the broader process includes house-to-house visits by booth-level officers.

Officials said the roll revision would not by itself grant or deny citizenship, but only verify voter eligibility under election law. Additional district magistrate, Pithoragarh, Yogendra Singh said, “Some people came to discuss SIR and the problems faced by Nepalese women. Only Indian citizens can be enrolled in the voter list, and Nepalese nationals can apply for citizenship according to law.”