An NRI’s plea
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With the Lok Sabha elections drawing closer, there is much excitement among us expatriates living in West Asia as we follow the campaign trails. Unfortunately, many of us have been unable to enrol or update our details online on Form 6A available on the Election Commission of India (ECI) site as it is ‘out of bounds’/inaccessible for us. The only option was to download the form and send it by post to the ECI office before the deadline of March 25.
The issue was raised by expatriate community groups on regional television channels, but there has been no luck in this regard. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) site too is equally inaccessible to check one’s Aadhar status or other details.
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My daughter (now studying in India) has not received her Aadhaar card six months after applying for it even though the verification process was over in February. Unlike most Non-Resident Indians (NRI) living in the West, those based in the Gulf/West Asia hope to return to their homeland and, hence, eagerly follow developments in India.
I hope the government and associated institutions will do the needful to make NRIs a part of the election process in India.
R. Vinod,
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Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Upholding plurality
It is praiseworthy that a majority of people in the country ‘believe in plurality’ (Page 1, April 12). This despite leaders of various political parties propagating the division of the society on the basis of religion, region, caste, language and more. If leaders feel that voters vote on the basis of caste, religion and other divisive factors, they are mistaken. The Indian voter is intelligent, politically conscious, and knows who should be shown the door.
Kshirasagara Balaji Rao,
Hyderabad