Kanta Prasad (36) arrived at a Jan Sunwai in Mangolpuri’s Block Y on Saturday carrying his Aadhaar and voter ID cards. He wanted to show that he was alive, living at the same address and eligible to vote.Only recently, his name has been struck off the draft rolls of Delhi’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process with the ASDD (Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate) record listing ‘Death’ as the reason his enumeration form was not collected.“I was marked dead,” Kanta said. He added that he had never received the form, though his wife and daughter had filled theirs.His request to correct his father’s name in the voter records — Mukund Prasad had been wrongly entered as Komal Prasad — had also not been acted on.Kanta was among several residents who came to the Jan Sunwai with similar complaints – names missing from the draft roll despite them continuing to live at their registered addresses, and in some cases, despite having submitted their SIR forms.Neelam (45) — who said she has lived in Mangolpuri since 1980, owns her house and voted in the 2025 Delhi elections — arrived at the hearing with her filled enumeration form. Her name, however, was missing from the draft rolls.The hearing was organised by Jan Sarokar, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), National Federation of Indian Women, Voter Adhikar Manch Delhi and other groups as part of their “people’s audit” of the SIR process.Story continues below this ad ⠀Another resident, Rihanna, said she missed the booth level officer’s (BLO) first visit when the enumeration form was handed over. She claimed she called the BLO several times and eventually managed to contact her.The BLO, she said, told her it was “very late” to submit the form. She still went ahead and submitted her form. But before that, she took a photocopy of her filled form and got the BLO’s signature as proof of submission. She was still marked “Absent” in the draft rolls.Carina of MKSS said a woman who had lived in Mangolpuri since birth was also found to have been excluded from the draft rolls. “In majority of the cases, residents have been marked ‘Shifted’,” she said.The hearing brought up cases where women were marked “Permanently Shifted” or “Untraceable/Absent”, while their husbands, listed at the same address with matching names, remained on the draft rolls.Story continues below this adThe organisers said they found 37 such instances across 36 households. Laxmi Devi (49) was among them. While she and her husband Om Prakash (55) — who worked in the Delhi Fire Service — were neither in the draft rolls nor on ASDD list, her two sons were marked “Absent/Untraceable”.As per records presented at the hearing, only her youngest son and her in-laws have found a place on the draft rolls.Two other residents, Shersingh and Neeraj, said they had approached their BLOs to remove duplicate voter entries caused by misspellings. Instead, both entries of each resident were dropped from the draft rolls. ⠀The cases followed a three-week door-to-door verification carried out by the civil society groups in Block Y, covering booths 119 to 126.Story continues below this adThe groups said the hearings were meant to help residents flag omissions and incorrect deletions before the rolls are finalised.Citing that a August 2003 Election Commission order provides for public verification of electoral rolls through gram sabhas, ward committees and urban community forums — including public reading of rolls and scrutiny of additions, deletions and corrections — social activist and MKSS co-founder Nikhil Dey said such checks were not being followed on the ground during the current SIR, which he described as “heavily exclusionary” and “anti-people”.Sophiya Mathew is a Correspondent at The Indian Express, based in New Delhi. She joined the Delhi bureau in 2024, and has specialization in Integrated Multimedia Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), Chennai. Professional Background Core Beats: Her reporting is primarily focused on the Environment and Education. Specialization: She has gained recognition for her ground-level reporting on the Yamuna floodplains and the socio-economic challenges faced by those living on its banks. She also focuses on the disparities in Delhi's education system, ranging from elite private schools to government institutions and refugee education. Recent Notable Articles (December 2025) Her recent work has been heavily centered on Delhi's severe winter pollution crisis and the government's regulatory responses: 1. The Air Pollution Crisis "A tale of two cities: Delhi govt schools choke in bad air, private classrooms set up air filters" (Dec 20, 2025): A high-impact feature contrasting the "Clean Air Bubbles" in elite schools with the reality of government school students who are exposed to an equivalent of 17 cigarettes a day due to outdoor exposure. "Delhi sees season's worst air day, second worst December AQI in nearly a decade" (Dec 15, 2025): An analytical report on the meteorological patterns trapping pollutants in the NCR. "Delhi bans non-BS VI vehicles from outside: Why curbing vehicular pollution is key" (Dec 17, 2025): Explaining the science behind targeting specific vehicle vintages to lower particulate matter. 2. Enforcement & Regulations "No fuel at pumps in Delhi without valid PUC certificate from December 18" (Dec 17, 2025): Breaking the news on the environment ministry's strict "No PUC, No Fuel" policy. 3. Education Policy "Law to regulate school fee in Delhi risks becoming procedural, say parents" (Dec 13, 2025): Investigating the loopholes in the new Delhi School Education (Transparency in Fixation and Regulation of Fees) Bill, 2025. "Monsoon Session: Private school fee regulation Bill cleared after four-hour debate" (Aug 9, 2025): Covering the legislative passage of the controversial fee hike regulation. Signature Style Sophiya is known for her observational depth. Her reporting often includes vivid details from school corridors, hospital waitlists, or the banks of the Yamuna to illustrate how policy failures affect the city's most vulnerable residents. She is a frequent expert guest on the 3 Things podcast, where she explains the complexities of Delhi’s environmental laws. X (Twitter): @SophiyaMathew1 ... Read MoreStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on InstagramTags:AadhaarNew Delhi