Delhi’s homeless to get voter ID cards

Disenfranchised for years, Delhi’s homeless have finally got a chance to exist on official rolls. The Delhi election commission in collaboration with NGOs, that work for the homeless, have managed to register close to 6000 homeless people.

Disenfranchised for years, Delhi’s homeless have finally got a chance to exist on official rolls. The Delhi election commission in collaboration with NGOs, that work for the homeless, have managed to register close to 6000 homeless people.

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The special drive will ensure inclusion of people from all walks of life in a weeks’ time.

In the last three days alone, more than 700 people have been registered. Officials from the election commission are visiting night shelters and adding more unregistered people to the rolls. When the exercise was started a week back there were only 62 homeless people on the electoral rolls.

“All sections of society have not been part of the electoral process for a very long time. This year’s theme is inclusion. The problem in registering homeless people was that they had no identity proof. This year, officers from the election commission will visit the homeless shelter three times and if the person is there, the card will be made,” said Vijay Dev, chief electoral officer, Delhi Election commission.

NGOs, too, are happy with the drive. “When a similar exercise was undertaken in 2004, a small number was enrolled as verification of addresses was difficult. With the new rules, the verification of regular shelter users has become easier,” said Paramjeet Kaur, director, Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan, an NGO for the homeless.