The distribution of the Elector's Photo Identity Card (EPIC) to voters in the city is stuck for want of software from the agency appointed by the Election Commission.

District election officer and district collector Chandrakant Dalvi said on Wednesday that the administration would distribute voters' photo identity cards to 2.5 lakh voters in the city before the general election, if it got the software.

Using the software, the old serial numbers are related to the new ones of the voters, whose photographs are available with the election department. The numbers have changed due to the delimitation exercise. In the absence of the software, there would be a mismatch between the photograph on the card and the details of the voter.

"There are 58.96 lakh voters registered in Pune district and photo identity cards have been given to 29.67 lakh voters so far. The administration will try to distribute four lakh cards in the district till the day of voting if the necessary software is available," he said.

According to election department officials, the scanning work for the four lakh identity cards in the district is almost over. But the process of making the cards has been stuck for want of software.

The EPIC is mandatory

The Election Commission in its note declaring the elections has said that the photo electoral roll facilitates the easy identification of voters. However, the commission has decided that a compulsory identification of voters will be made during the elections to the Lok Sabha.

The voters who have been provided with the Elector’s Photo Identity Card (EPIC) shall be identified through the EPIC only. A special drive for issuing EPIC for the remaining electors has considerably increased the percentage of the EPIC coverage throughout the country, which now stands at an average of 82%.

The commission said all the residual electors are advised to obtain their EPIC from the respective Electoral Registration Officers (ERO) urgently. The chief electoral officers have been asked to invigorate the EPIC preparation and distribution campaign and enhance the coverage within next one month.

Dinesh Thite/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication