The Election Commission’s nationwide drive to purify electoral rolls by linking the Aadhaar number with electoral photo identity card (EPIC) database has received a lukewarm response in the capital city here as it is lagging behind the district average. According to district administration sources, around 76 per cent people in Khordha district have been linked under the National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP) began in the State on March 3 whereas only 63 per cent people of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) area have been included under the programme.
“Barring Bhubaneswar, the linking process has been successful in rural areas in Khordha district where over 90 per cent people have been included under the NERPAP,” Khordha district Collector Niranjan Sahu said. Various measures have been taken to make this programme a success in the district. Booth level Officers (BlOs) and other officials have been engaged to make this programme successful. From July 1, four mobile teams comprising a cameraperson, an assistant and a computer operator each in a team would make door-to-door visit to the villages to include people under this programme, he said.
While special units have been set up at all tehsil offices in the district, the administration has decided to open two new counters in Khordha and Jatni municipal areas. As many as six hoarding will be put up at prime locations in the city and awareness campaigns would be launched with the help of loudspeakers, he informed. Voters can seed their Aadhaar numbers with their EPIC data online through national voters’ services portal (www.nvsp.in) or by filling up a form dedicated for this service offline. The applicants would have to append photocopies of Aadhaar and photo identity card with the designated form while furnishing data offline.