Vivek Waghmode, TNN | May 20, 2015, 01.00PM IST
KOLHAPUR: As the Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) election nears, the district administration has been pushing to link voter ID cards of all city residents to their Aadhaar cards before the polls.
The drive, however, has seen poor response in the city when compared with other parts of the district. Only 2.5% voters from Kolhapur North and Kolhapur South constituencies have linked their Aadhaar cards, whereas in remote constituencies like Chandgad and Radhanagari, it stands at more than 10%. District administration officials now want local politicians to take steps to increase the percentage of linking, which will help keep bogus voting in check.
The city is divided into 77 wards, of which 51 wards come under the Kolhapur North assembly constituency segment and 24 wards come under Kolhapur South.
District election officer Sangita Chougule said, "We have launched a drive to link Aadhaar cards with the voter ID cards in the district. We've seen that voters from villages and taluka areas are enthusiastic about the drive, but response from the city remains poor. It seems that they are not interested in linking their Aadhar cards despite having easy access."
"Initial figures suggest that only 2.5% of the total 3,12,000 voters from Kolhapur South have linked their Aadhaar card to their voter ID cards. The percentage is the same in Kolhapur North. In Chandgad and Radhanagari assembly constituencies, it is 10%," she said.
KMC elections will be held in October and the election commission has set a deadline of July-end to link all the voters with their Aadhar card.
"The linking of Aadhaar card is essential and will become important in the future. This will help prevent bogus voting, cross voting and duplication of the voters, which will basically strengthen the right to vote. Politicians should come forward to support the drive," she said.
Meanwhile, Ashvini Waghmale, KMC deputy commissioner, who is in-charge of the drive in the city, said, "The number of voters that have linked their Aadhaar number is more than the actual figures indicate. The work of data entry is not complete yet."
Waghmale said the administration has taken up the issue on priority basis. "As many as 344 BLOs (Booth Level Officers) are working in city limits and through them we have initiated an awareness campaign among residents. The BLOs have been asked to work three days a week to meet the targets," she said.