The Election commission of Indian with the view of bring total error free, and authenticated electoral role, had decided to launch the comprehensive programme i.e. “National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme” (NERPAP) from 3rd March 2015.
Activities under this Initiative:
- Linking and authentication of EPIC (Electors Photo Identity Card) with Aadhar card of UIDAI
- Voluntary disclosures of Multiple entries in Electoral Roll
- Correction of errors in electoral roll
- Improvement of Image quality of electors
Features about this Initiative:
- During the programme the electors have been given the facility to feed his/her data Aadhar number of EPIC number through following methods
- National Voter service Portal using web services
- SMS
- Mobile Application
- By Making a call on 1905
- An Elector can submit the details of Aadhar number and EPIC number in a hard copy of duly filled up Form along with photocopy of both the documents, namely EPIC and Aadhar card.Besides, collection and feeding of Aadhar will also be done by Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) by organizing Special Camp, Voter Facilitation Centers, e-Seva centers and Citizen Service Centers authorized by the DEOs. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will also collect the details of electors during door to door survey.
- To ensure maximum public participation, nationwide special camps will be organized by the Electoral Registration Officer on 12.04.2015
Need of this Initiative:
- Under Section 140-A of the Representation of the People Act, 1957, enrolment at more than one place is an offence punishable with imprisonment of a term which may extend to one year or fine or both. For correction of name, errors, in particular of electors entry or photograph in Electoral Roll fill Form 8 online or submit to BLO/ERO.
To Conclude…
This initiative of Election commission to purge its database is a very good initiative towards stopping the trend of holding Multiple IDs by individuals in the country. Voter IDs are notorious for poor profile image and faulty address; the new program will also address this grievance. The best part of this Initiative is that Electors have been provided the facility to feed their respective Aadhar number through sms, e-mail, mobile application and National Voters Service Portal (NVSP), using web services through the election commission website and because of this digitization of data there is no need for electors to personally visit the offices and give their details. This initiative will need major campaigns and awareness programmes so that the citizens of the country can get the idea about this initiative.
About the Author
Sunny Wadhwaniya is currently pursuing his Masters at Center for Studies in Social Management, Central University of Gujarat. He has done extensive field work in tribal areas of Gujarat on the issues of FRA and MGNREGA. He has also worked on issues of Women Empowerment and Local Governance. Lately, his research interest has spilled over in the issues of Role of PRI (Panchayati Raj Institutions) in health care delivery services in rural areas of Gujarat. Besides that, his papers have been published in National and International Journalsand has presented papers in National and International Conferences. In the past, he was a Columnist in the leading daily- Pakistan Observer. Currently, he is interning with the Model Governance Foundation and Gujarat Environment Management Institute (GEMI), Government of Gujarat.
