The permanent Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC) centres in all the 234 Assembly constituencies will become fully operational within three months and updating of electoral rolls will be continuous rather than once a year, said Chief Electoral Officer, Naresh Gupta on Saturday.
Talking to reporters after a review meeting with the District Collector P. Umanath and revenue officials, Mr.Gupta said that 100 per cent field verification of electoral rolls has begun and summary revision of electoral rolls will begin on January 5. The field level door to door verification staff are instructed to check for the voters and affix a sticker on the door to ensure that no house is left out. The objective is to identify missing names, delete those who had shifted and incorporate changes relating to name, age, sex and gender. Cases of voters having been shifted out of the address were found to be more in urban areas.
The staffs have been asked to pay a second visit to houses that remained locked and to enquire with neighbours and even residential welfare associations. In the event of some areas being left out, voters can inform the district collectors and supervisory officers will take up a random check of areas.
The permanent EPIC centres in Assembly constituencies already functioning will start functioning to their full potential by taking up works relating to inclusion, correction and even replacement and correction of errors relating to data in Voter ID cards besides continuous updating of electoral rolls.
As far as Pennagaram Assembly segment is concerned, there is no problem in distribution of free sari and dhotis since the poll date has been deferred.
On the postponement of the poll date for Pennagaram, Mr.Gupta clarified that the Chief Election Commissioner had told the media at Chennai Airport that political parties had been consulted and the continuous Pongal holidays and works relating to free distribution of saris and dhotis involving the officials was the reasons for the need for a change in the polling date.
Referring to a media report wherein a political party leader had reportedly remarked that Mr.Gupta is functioning in favour of a particular political party, he said that he was discharging his legitimate duty without any favouritism and in a most impartial manner.
He said “some persons (without referring to the name of the leader) interpret the functioning of poll machinery in their own political angle. It was their way of thinking and nothing wrong in it.”
He also recalled the instance of CEO’s office writing to the Election Commission of India for verification and deletion of 25 lakh names from the electoral rolls in 2005 when the names were not identifiable on the ground. He pointed out that at that time he was accused of acting in a manner bringing disrepute to the Commission.
