9168 - Election officials sore over non-payment of honorarium - The Hindu

RAMANATHAPURAM, December 12, 2015

Election officials sore over non-payment of honorarium

• SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

They are yet to receive polling allowance for the Lok Sabha election

Booth-Level Officers (BLOs) and supervisors engaged in summary revision of electoral rolls are upset as they have not received the honorarium for their work under the National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP).

They could not actively take part in the ongoing arduous summary revision of electoral rolls, due for publication on January 20, 2016, as they are yet to be paid the honorarium of Rs. 2,500 for the BLOs and Rs. 5,000 for supervisors. The BLOs are also yet to be paid their polling allowance for the Lok Sabha election held last year.

Though the government had disbanded the NERPAP in August after the Supreme Court’s ruling on Aadhaar card, the BLOs and supervisors had covered 58 per cent of the 77 per cent of voters having Aadhaar cards in the district but could not get the honorarium, official sources said.

About 1,300 panchayat secretaries, noon-meal workers, schoolteachers, anganwadi workers, village assistants and village administrative officers worked as BLOs and 180 Revenue Inspectors and Deputy Tahsildars as supervisors in the district, the sources said.

The BLOs were also aggrieved that they ended up paying SMS charge every time they messaged about the status of the applications they received for addition, deletion, correction and change of address though they were given toll-free numbers, the sources said.

They would have scrutinised about 28,000 applications during the summary revision, the sources said.

The BLOs and those engaged in the revision work had problems in deleting names of deceased persons as the previous Chief Electoral Officer had insisted that they could delete the names only on receipt of death certificates. As the families failed to submit death certificates, the officials faced problems in deleting the names of the dead. This issue was, however, addressed now as the BLOs were authorised to suo motu take action and delete the names of the deceased voters after serving notices to the families concerned, they said.

Summary revision

Meanwhile, the staff and officers were busy completing the summary revision and the revised electoral rolls with an addition of new voters would be sent for approval by the Electoral Registration Officers on December 25, the sources added.

8202 - Nearly 50% voters to be struck off rolls in Hyderabad district - TNN

Nearly 50% voters to be struck off rolls in Hyderabad district

Syed Amin Jafri, TNN | Jun 29, 2015, 05.30AM IST

HYDERABAD: This is happening in our Hyderabad. Believe it or not, the electoral registration officers (EROs) under the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) have marked out the names of 18.30 lakh voters for deletion from the electoral rolls in Hyderabad district on the ground that they have shifted residence or their houses were found locked. This means that almost 45 to 50 percent of the 40.98 lakh voters in the 15 assembly constituencies forming part of Hyderabad revenue district would get disenfranchised soon, as the process of verification by EROs is coming to a close. 

Lakhs of eligible voters, whose only 'fault' is that they remained 'elusive' to the 'invisible' block level officers (BLOs) when they had purportedly visited their houses for Aadhaar seeding, would be struck off the rolls after notices are pasted on their door numbers giving them a week's time to present themselves. It is another matter that the BLOs are supposed to obtain acknowledgement for the notices when the voters purportedly shifted from the houses or kept their premises locked! Strange are the ways of the electoral authorities indeed. 

It may be recalled that after intensive revision undertaken in the year 2013, the final electoral rolls were published on January 31, 2014, and the number of electors stood at 35, 98,152. Subsequently, the number of voters swelled to 39, 65,284 in Hyderabad district with online registrations on the eve of general elections held on April 30, 2014. Summary revision of electoral rolls was taken up again in November-December 2014 and the final rolls were published on January 17, 2015, after disposal of claims and objections. Gram sabhas and meetings of ward committees and resident welfare associations were purportedly held during the summary revision. 

As per SSR (final rolls) 2015, as many as 40,98,491 eligible voters were enrolled in the 15 assembly constituencies of Hyderabad district. Subsequently, the electoral authorities launched the "National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme" (NERPAP) in March 2015 after appointment of BLOs and supervisors. Aadhaar seeding (linking of EPIC/voter ID cards with Aadhaar cards) was taken up as part of the NERPAP. The GHMC was entrusted the task of Aadhaar seeding in Hyderabad district as GHMC commissioner is designated as the district election officer (unlike in other districts where the district collectors are DEOs). 

Door-to-door verification by the BLOs was taken up from April 1, 2015, for collection of Aadhaar details and inclusion of Aadhaar numbers in the electoral rolls, as well as for identification of the shifted/ dead or 'ineligible' voters, deletion of multiple entries and correction of errors in the rolls. The three-month-long campaign is now coming to an end. As per the latest progress report, the BLOs could collect Aadhaar details of 11,60,695 voters out of the total of 40,98,496 enrolled electors in Hyderabad district. Another 1, 12,384 voters have furnished Aadhaar details on their own. 

The BLOs have "found" that as many as 9, 85,902 voters shifted their residence and another 7,50,573 voters had locked the premises during their visits. Besides, the BLOs also noticed that 71,186 voters had duplicate EPICs, 22,946 voters were 'ineligible' and 44,037 voters were dead. These five categories of voters added up to 18, 74,644 (or 45.74 percent of total electors). Even after removal of names of dead voters, the number of voters who stand to get disenfranchised comes to 18, 30,607 or 44.66 percent. 

The fact is that 4, 86,592 voters are yet to be verified by the BLOs. Overall, about 50 percent electors (or 20 lakh voters) may lose their right to vote since they were not 'spotted' by the BLOs. It is another issue that lakhs of voters in Hyderabad may not have seen the faces of their BLOs since no one visited their houses during the Aadhaar seeding campaign. In many cases, the BLOs are also not familiar with the areas coming under their booths (polling stations) and thus indulge in 'ghost verification.' This partly explains the large number of voters marked for deletion on account of 'shifting" their residences or keeping their houses door-locked.' 

Unless the voters, political parties, resident welfare associations, non-governmental organisations and civil rights groups rise to the occasion to ensure that mass-scale deletions are not carried out by the electoral authorities, we may see the spectre of the forthcoming GHMC elections being reduced to a sham by keeping out lakhs of eligible voters from exercising their franchise, all in the name of "Aadhaar seeding" and electoral roll purification campaign, though the Supreme Court has ruled that Aadhaar cards are not mandatory. 

(The writer is an MLC and a journalist)

7546 - 3.75 lakh booth-level multiple electoral roll entries in Bihar - Economic Times

3.75 lakh booth-level multiple electoral roll entries in Bihar

PTI Mar 13, 2015, 09.03PM IST

PATNA: The Election Commission (EC) has identified 3.75 lakh booth-level multiple entries in electoral rolls in the state, Bihar Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ajay V Naik said today.

"Such entries mean a person is listed multiple times in the electoral rolls of the booth. We will remove their names by the end of March. Similar exercise will be repeated in Assembly constituencies of the state in April and at district and state levels later on," he said.

The National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP) has been launched in the state, Naik said, noting that the strong and efficient computer software being used by the EC was helping in the task as it has an accuracy rate of 95 per cent and saves time and paper.

He said statistically around three to four per cent of the total 6.57 crore electors could fall in the category of duplicate voters.

"Duplicate voters do not exceed 30 lakh in the state. We will embark on an exercise to physically verify and remove such names from the electoral rolls," he said.

The Bihar CEO said more transparency was needed as this was an election year for the state.

"We have requested the EC to allow short summary revision of electoral rolls for a period of one month before the polls so that no voter misses the opportunity to be a part of the election process," Naik said.

Under NERPAP, Election Photo Identify Cards would be attached with Aadhaar and mobile numbers, and e-mail addresses of voters would be included in the database.

People with multiple entries in the electoral rolls would be given an opportunity to get them removed by filling up forms.

Naik said Aadhaar penetration was at 30 per cent of around 11 crore population in the state, though he has been assured that it would improve to 75 per cent by May.

Special camps would be organised at all booths in every Assembly constituency on April 12 for this purpose. Such camps would also be organised in May, June and July, he added.

7545 - EPIC-Aadhaar linkage to end duplications in rolls - TNN

EPIC-Aadhaar linkage to end duplications in rolls

TNN | Mar 14, 2015, 06.36AM IST

PATNA: The National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP), which aims to link Aadhaar number with the Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) to eliminate duplicate electoral records, was launched in the districts on Thursday. According to statistical estimates, there are about 30 lakh duplications in the state.

Chief electoral officer (CEO), Bihar, Ajay V Nayak, while addressing a press meet to formally announce the programme on Friday, said, NERPAP is a holistic approach to remove discrepancies in the electoral rolls at the national level. "Besides duplication, ... improving the photograph quality or including mobile number and e-mail id in the database is also a part of the programme," he said.

The linking of Aadhaar number with EPIC can be done in many ways. A voter can add his own Aadhaar number to the electoral records by logging on to National Voters' Services Portal (www.nvsp.in or www.electoralsearch.in/) and update his details. Voters can also call 1950 (toll-free state-level call centre) or furnish their documents to their booth-level officers (BLOs). An SMS - 'ECILINK ' can also be sent to 166 or 51969 to do the linking.

"The BLOs will also be going door to door with a checklist and fill in the Aadhaar and mobile number and e-mail id, just like any survey," Nayak said, adding the BLOs will form booth-level awareness groups to sensitize people about linking Aadhaar number with electoral roll. A nationwide special camp will also be held at every polling station in every assembly constituency on April 12 for all these works.

As per the statistics, in 2015, 54% of Bihar's population should be above 18 to be voters. "But at present, about 57% of Bihar's population is registered as voters. This means there's a 3-4% overload on the electoral list, which is about 30 lakh odd people," Nayak said, adding there are 6.57 crore registered voters in Bihar.

Bihar, however, was already working to remove duplication in electoral rolls and about 3.75 lakh duplications at the booth-level will be eliminated by the end of March, Nayak claimed. "We introduced a new software in Bihar sometime ago which can detect duplication with almost 95% accuracy and are currently working on it at the booth level. In April, we will take it at the assembly constituency level and then at the district level," Nayak said.

While the Election Commission of India has fixed the deadline for linking the Aadhaar number with EPIC as August 15, 2015, the deadline does not apply to Bihar in its election year. "However, our aim is that the EPIC of everyone, who has an Aadhaar number, should be linked by May. We have also briefed all political parties, DMs and officials engaged in election duty for the same," Nayak said.

The CEO said voters can also search names in national electoral roll, print voter information slip, apply for enrolment, modification, deletion and change of address in electoral roll and know about BLOs and electoral roll officer using National Voters' Services Portal.

7518 - Members of political parties sensitised to poll roll synching - The Hindu

TIRUVANNAMALAI, March 6, 2015

Updated: March 6, 2015 05:51 IST

Members of political parties sensitised to poll roll synching

Representatives of political parties were consulted for implementing a special drive named ‘National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme’ (NERPAP) here on Thursday.

District Collector A. Gnanasekaran presided over the meeting of political parties convened for the purpose. It was stated that the NERPAP launched on March 3 will last till May end. Representatives of political parties were asked to appoint booth level agents to participate in the drive. Modes of synchronising Aadhaar with electoral roll were explained.

It was also stated that booth level camps will be organised on April 12 and 26 and May 10 and 24 in every polling centre.

Voters can submit applications seeking corrections in electoral roll and for Aadhaar synching. District Revenue Officer S. Palani participated.

Special booth level camps on April 12, 26 and May 10

and 24

7517 - Poll panel's programme for error-free electoral rolls - Deccan herald

Poll panel's programme for error-free electoral rolls

Bengaluru, March 06, 2015, DHNS:

The Election Commission of India has launched “National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme” (NERPAP) throughout the country, with the objective of bringing an error-free and authenticated electoral roll.

During the programme, Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) data of electors will be linked with the Aadhaar data, for the purpose of authentication. NERPAP will focus on improving image quality of electors, along with sorting issues like corrections of errors, according to an official press release.

Electors have been provided with the facility to feed their respective Aadhaar number using web services through the Election Commission website (www.eci.gov.in). Electors can also feed Aadhaar number by making a call at 1950 to the State call centres, or by submitting the details of Aadhaar number and EPIC number with photocopy of both the documents, namely EPIC and Aadhaar card. Collection and feeding of Aadhaar will also be done by organising special camps, the release stated. The first such camp will be held on April 12. Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will also collect the details of electors during the door-to-door surveys.

Under the programme, facility has also been provided for voluntarily disclosure of multiple entries by voters. Electors with multiple registrations in electoral roll(s) can fill Form-7 for deletion of their names from the places except where they ordinarily reside.  The forms may be submitted at ERO facilitation centres, special camps and citizen service centres, the release stated