When Imtiyaz Malvadi, a 35-year-old plumber, received his Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) recently, he did not know how to react after reading the details.
“I did not know whether to laugh at the gross mistakes or to become angry at having wasted hours to get myself this card,” he said.
Displaying the card to this reporter, he listed out the mistakes in it. “In the gender category, they have written ‘female’. Instead of father’s name, they have mentioned ‘husband’s name’. This is simply outrageous. Can’t the person preparing the card at least look at the photo to see if the person is male or female. Do they work blindfolded?” he asked.
Not a one-off case
He said that when he visited the tahsildar’s office, where EPICs are issued, he found several people with similar complaints.
He said he met one woman whose card said ‘male’ in the gender column.
“These are things that can be easily avoided, but because of the mistakes of the staff preparing EPIC, the common people have to suffer. First, we have to spend a good deal of time in getting the card, and then we have to run around to get the mistakes rectified,” he said. In fact, getting a new card is easier than getting a rectified one, he added.
When contacted, Deputy Commissioner D. Randeep admitted that such mistakes could be easily avoided at the time of entering the data. He added that the mistakes not only trouble citizens but also put additional burden on the staff.
“The staff could save time if they carefully check the details before issuing the cards,” he said.
