TAMBARAM: Government schoolteachers will launch a weeklong intensive drive to ensure that all voters of Tambaram and Alandur Assembly constituencies had Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC).

On Thursday, Kancheepuram Collector Pradeep Yadav visited Alandur, Pallavaram and Tambaram Municipalities and met teachers who will be involved in the drive next week.

He told the teachers that among the nine Assembly constituencies in Kancheepuram district, the percentage of voters without EPIC was highest in Tambaram and Alandur, and the scheme of covering residual voters without photo identity cards had to be expedited.

While they would be deploying all possible strength of the Revenue and other departments, they had to take the services of teachers too, the Collector said.

Another teacher said officials of the Education Department took strong objection for carrying out a task that was not primarily their job.

The Collector said their apprehensions were considered and special exemption from their duties in school was already obtained. He said that about 300 teachers would be deployed for this scheme and each teacher had to cover only about 100 residual voters.

He pointed out that in rural constituencies such as Madurantakam and Acharapakkam, 90 per cent had EPIC. Officials of the Revenue Department said of 8.72 lakh voters in Tambaram, 2.6 lakh did not have EPIC and in Alandur, around 1.3 lakh of the 4.31 lakh voters did not have the card.

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