71 lakh names deleted from voter list, but larger number added: Election Commission

April 27, 2014

Mumbai, Apr 27: The Election Commission (EC) may have apologised for the deletion of thousands of names from the voters list in Mumbai, but officials within the body insist that the exercise to revise the electoral roll was undertaken meticulously.

In the last two years, 71.76 lakh names have been deleted from the State’s electoral rolls. But 74.74 lakh names added, EC sources say. In Mumbai, around 14 lakh names have been deleted and around 7 lakh names have been added to the rolls, according to informed sources.

“Maharashtra’s electoral roll was bloated because new names were being added and invalid names were not being deleted. Usually deletions are at least 50 per cent of additions. We had to undertake a major revision,” said Deputy Election Commissioner Sudhir Tripathi.

Maharashtra’s electoral roll also faced another major problem. “There were many names in the roll for which photos were absent,” he added. While most other States had a match of over 90 per cent between the names and photos on the rolls, in Maharashtra it was just about 70 per cent.

However, it is the manner in which the roll was revised which has caused a problem. Election Commissioner H S Brahma has admitted to procedural lapses. “I have not seen this kind of massive operational mistake. This kind of unauthorised deletion happened due to the lack of supervision and coordination on the ground,” Mr. Brahma told journalists.

However, EC sources claimed a long process was followed before the names were deleted. And that the deleted list was shared with political parties and published in newspapers. “House visits were undertaken before deleting names. The lists were also put up online. People should have checked the voters list in advance to check if their names were on it,” said a senior EC official in Maharashtra.

However, this has been disputed by many. Filmmaker Shivendra Sinh Dungarpur said he did not recall anyone from the EC staff visiting his house, but found his name struck off the list. “I have voted in the last two elections and have not shifted residence since then. Naturally I assumed I did not have to check if my name was on the list,” he said.

EC officials say their checks are handicapped by the lack of a dedicated staff. “We rely mainly on school teachers to do the house visits. Also metros face the problem of anonymity. Often neighbours do not know each other and cannot confirm if someone lives in the address listed,” said a senior EC official.

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Average age of school children picking up drugs, smoking habit in 10 Indian cities around 13 years!

News Network

December 13,2025

New Delhi: School-going children are picking up drug and smoking habits and engaging in consumption of alcohol, with the average age of introduction to such harmful substances found to be around 13 years, suggesting a need for earlier interventions as early as primary school, a multi-city survey by AIIMS-Delhi said.

The findings also showed substance use increased in higher grades, with grade XI/XII students two times more likely to report use of substances when compared with grade VIII students. This emphasised the importance of continued prevention and intervention through middle and high school.

The study led by Dr Anju Dhawan of AIIMS's National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, published in the National Medical Journal of India this month, looks at adolescent substance use across diverse regions.

The survey included 5,920 students from classes 8, 9, 11 and 12 in urban government, private and rural schools across 10 cities -- Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Delhi, Dibrugarh, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jammu, Lucknow, Mumbai, and Ranchi. The data were collected between May 2018 and June 2019.

The average age of initiation for any substance was 12.9 (2.8) years. It was lowest for inhalants (11.3 years) followed by heroin (12.3 years) and opioid pharmaceuticals (without prescription; 12.5 years).

Overall, 15.1 per cent of participants reported lifetime use, 10.3 per cent reported past year use, and 7.2 per cent reported use in the past month of any substance, the study found.

The most common substances used in the past year, after tobacco (4 per cent) and alcohol (3.8 per cent), were opioids (2.8 per cent), followed by cannabis (2 per cent) and inhalants (1.9 per cent). Use of non-prescribed pharmaceutical opioids was most common among opioid users (90.2 per cent).

On being asked, 'Do you think this substance is easily available for a person of your age' separately for each substance category, nearly half the students (46.3 per cent) endorsed that tobacco products and more than one-third of the students (36.5 per cent) agreed that a person of their age can easily procure alcohol products.

Similarly, for Bhang (21.9 per cent), ganja/charas (16.1 per cent), inhalants (15.2 per cent), sedatives (13.7 per cent), opium and heroin (10 per cent each), the students endorsed that these can be easily procured.

About 95 per cent of the children, irrespective of their grade, agreed with the statement that 'drug use is harmful'.

The rates of substance use (any) among boys were significantly higher than those of girls for substance use (ever), use in the past year and use in the past 30 days. Compared to grade VIII students, grade IX students were more likely, and grade XI/XII students were twice as likely to have used any substance (ever).

The likelihood of past-year use of any substance was also higher for grade IX students and for grade XI/XII students as compared to grade VIII students.

About 40 per cent of students mentioned that they had a family member who used tobacco or alcohol each. The use of cannabis (any product) and opioid (any product) by a family member was reported by 8.2 per cent and 3.9 per cent of students, respectively, while the use of other substances, such as inhalants/sedatives by family was 2-3 per cent, the study found.

A relatively smaller percentage of students reported use of tobacco or alcohol among peers as compared to among family members, while a higher percentage reported inhalants, sedatives, cannabis or opioid use among peers.

Children using substances (past year) compared to non-users reported significantly higher any substance use by their family members and peers.

There were 25.7 per cent students who replied 'yes' to the question 'conflicts/fights often occur in your family'. Most students also replied affirmatively to 'family members are aware of how their time is being spent' and 'damily members are aware of with whom they spend their time'.

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