Owaisi criticises denial of welfare benefits to people excluded from voters list post SIR
AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi. | Photo Credit: PTI Ahead of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls scheduled to be conducted in Telangana this month, Hyderabad parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday (January 6, 2026) criticised the reported denial of welfare benefits to people excluded after the exercise in West Bengal. He questioned why access to rations, other government schemes be contingent upon a person’s name being on the voter list when Aadhaar-based verification already exists. Mr. Owaisi, who is the president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), alleged that people excluded during the SIR exercise in West Bengal were being denied Public Distribution System (PDS) rations and other welfare benefits. He said this included individuals marked as “absent” or “shifted”. Apart from these, people who did not receive voter slips during the last election, even though many of them were genuine voters, were also affected. “Why should access to ration or welfare depend on whether your name is on the voter list? What is the point of Aadhaar authentication if …
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