The problem of ghost voters might have a permanent solution in Bengal as the server of the state’s registrar of births and deaths would be linked to that of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) soon, enabling the central agency to deactivate an individual’s Aadhaar card whenever his or her death is registered in the state.

“The effort was on to link the servers of the registrar of death and birth of the states with the UIDAI for the past few years. In some states like Nagaland and Uttar Pradesh the process has been completed. In Bengal, the linking could be completed within a couple of months,” a senior UIDAI official told The Telegraph.

Many in the administration said it would help the Election Commission identify dead voters in the electoral rolls more effectively.

“As soon as the registrar of death and birth uploads any death case, the UIDAI would get to know immediately once the servers are linked. The UIDAI can deactivate the Aadhaar of the deceased and forward the information to the EC, which can ask the electoral registration officers to delete the name of the deceased from the rolls following an inquiry,” said a source.

Sources also said that this could leave a visible impact on the electoral rolls of the state.

“It has been noticed that Bengal electoral rolls have several dead voters. The primary reports emerging from the ongoing SIR suggest that about 40 lakh to 50 lakh dead voters could be identified in the existing rolls. It is often alleged that the names of dead voters are used by the political parties, mainly the ruling party, to cast false votes,” said another source.

A section of the officials said that dead voters from the electoral rolls could not be weeded out entirely in Bengal as the process was dependent solely on booth-level officers (BLOs).

“The booth level officers were supposed to report the deaths in their booths to the electoral registration officers. Based on the reports of the BLOs, inquiries are conducted and dead voters struck off. As most BLOs did not do their jobs properly, many dead voters remained,” alleged a source.

Now, if the UIDAI informs the EC directly about the death of an Aadhaar holder, the EC can specifically ask the EROs to conduct an inquiry and delete the name of the dead voter.

The UIDAI has recently informed the EC about 33 lakh deaths in Bengal whose Aadhaar cards were deactivated.

“This figure is the cumulative figure since 2011. The UIDAI has come to know about the deaths from various sources like deactivation of Aadhaar cards and reports from the registrar of death and birth. Once the servers are linked, we will get a real-time update on deaths,” said an UIDAI official.

Sources said data related to deactivation of 33 lakh Aadhaar cards would help the EC to an extent as the EROs could verify if a deactivated Aadhaar card was used by any applicant while filling up the enumeration form.