Date:02/10/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/02/stories/2007100259350300.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Photo electoral rolls work yet to begin

Election officials say that they are unable to get the required number of digital cameras

HYDERABAD: The intensive house-to-house enumeration for preparing the photo electoral rolls by the district election authorities has once again hit a roadblock.

Although GHMC election authorities had announced that the work would begin from the last week it is yet to kick off.

Deadline

Already the programme has been hit by delays with the earlier exercise taken up by the CMC confined to the dustbins due to more than 10 per cent inaccuracies of mismatch of photos.

Photo electoral rolls were to have been ready by now as per the original schedule of publishing of final rolls by August, later September and the latest deadline is the year-end.

Stumbling block

Election officials now say that they are unable to get the huge number of digital cameras required for the exercise and also the usual staff reluctance to take up the work. But, they assure that the work will begin and pick up speed in a couple of days.

GHMC has estimated it would require nearly a thousand cameras to take photographs of the 47.7 lakh electors in the 13 Assembly constituencies.

It has planned to take photograph of each and every eligible voter irrespective of whether they have a electoral photo identity card (EPIC) or not.

Designated centres

About 1,952 camera operators including an enumerator are required for the work for the 3,900 polling stations.

“Asking people to visit the designated photo lamination centres did not succeed so we have opted for photographing voters at their houses itself,” said an official.

Officials have stated that the issuing of the remaining EPIC will be undertaken only after the photo electoral rolls are sanitised for any errors at the constituency level.

Permanent designated centres are to be established in all the 13 constituencies for the purpose.