'Wallet and pocket friendly' photo identity cards for voters

Tiruchirapalli, Mar 17 (UNI) New photo identity cards (EPIC) for voters will be smaller and 'wallet-friendly' and include the date of birth of the voters, according to state Chief Electoral Officer Naresh Gupta.

Talking to the press here soon after a meeting with the Collectors of Tiruchirapalli), Perambalur, Pudukottai and Ariyalur Districts, here last night hesaid he permanent EPIC Centres, planned for each Assembly constituency, would become functional soon.

''We are awaiting the arrival of a few minor equipment for the centres. They would become functional after the required equipment were put in place and the officials were trained,'' he said. Voters, who have not got the EPICs so far, would be photographed and issued the cards through these centres, he added.

To a question he said that District Election Officers have been instructed to take great care in realigning polling stations consequent to the delimitation of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies.

''Care has to be taken to ensure that no area is left out as the delimitation exercise has been done after a long time,'' he said.

The meeting was to discuss the realignment of the electoral rolls and polling stations here.The realigned electoral rolls, consequent to the delimitation of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies, would be published by June end, he added.

He also pointed out that the electoral rolls would be verified as per the formats given by the Election Commission. The data of the electoral rolls, with respect to men and women voters and their age groups, would be compared with the projected population data and the 1991 and 2001 census. If any major deviations were detected, a thorough verification would be done. Similarly, large-scale inclusion or deletions, if any, would also be verified.

Responding to another question, Mr Gupta said 98 per cent of the voters in the state had been covered under the photo-electoral rolls. Cent per cent coverage has been achieved in Namakkal, Erode, Dindigul, Karur, Thiruvarur and Krishnagiri districts.

In Tiruchirapalli district, the coverage under photo electoral rolls was 99.96 per cent, he added.

UNI RV VV RL DS1353