The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Post office to help EC in rolls revision

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 07, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Post office to help EC in rolls revision

By Our Tamil Nadu Bureau

CHENNAI, SEPT. 6. The Election Commission (EC) will involve the Department of Posts in revision of rolls, to be taken up from January 1, 2005. The decision follows the recognition of the central role of post offices and the familiarity of the beat postman with residents.

The voter need not go to the zonal office of the Corporation or a taluk office in districts to check the draft voters' list. The job may be done easier at the nearest post office.

The draft electoral rolls will be published by September 15 and eligible voters can start filing claims or objections hereafter. The rolls will be displayed for one month. The EC has sought the assistance of the postal staff in carrying out the various functions for the revision exercise, according to a circular issued to the authorities.

No bulk applications

The post offices will receive filled-in forms submitted by an individual or a member of family applying for himself or herself as well as other members. No authorisation will be required for filing forms on behalf of one household. But the post offices will not receive applications presented in bulk by representatives of political parties, housing societies, village or ward sabhas or by any other organisation.

These will have to be presented only before the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) or the Assistant ERO in the Assembly constituencies.

The post offices will display the electoral rolls, make available various forms to the public for inclusion, deletion and correction in the rolls, accept filled-in applications from them at the post office counters for further processing by delivery staff as laid down in the "operating procedure."

The filled-in forms will be accepted at the counter and the counterfoil stamped, initialled and returned to the applicant. The postman, on his beat, will verify the particulars mentioned by the applicant.

After checking, the applications will be returned to the EC representative, who will collect the forms, under receipt, once a week.

The Chief Electoral Officers in the States have been asked to provide training to postal authorities and staff for effective implementation of the scheme.

Sources in the EC say the Commission is trying out this experiment in improving the rolls and verifying them by putting to use one of the well-tested machinery with the Centre and making full use of the beat postman, who knows the village, street or area best.

This attempt comes in the wake of complaints, particularly in Tamil Nadu, of large-scale omissions and deletions from the rolls for the last parliamentary election.

A spokesman of the Catalyst Trust, A.K. Venkatasubramanian, who has been pushing this case, hopes that the use of post offices will become a permanent feature. "Now it is up to the citizens and residents' associations to make this system a success," says the retired bureaucrat.

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