After failing to provide photo identity cards to voters for the Assembly 2003 elections, it appears that the target now is to provide cards to at least 90 per cent of the voters by the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.
Before the Assembly elections, it had been announced that photo identity cards would be compulsory for voting. But since the drive proved to be a failure, it has been announced that a number of other identification would also be admitted.
Talking to Hindustan Times, S K Jain, deputy manager, Instrumentation Company, Luckow, the public sector company that was entrusted with the task of making photo identity cards for voters here and several other districts, expressed confidence that the work would be completed well before the Lok Sabha 2004 elections.
He said that so far photo identity cards had been distributed in Indore – 1, Indore – 2, Indore – 3, Indore – 4 and Mhow, while the work distribution is still going on in Indore – 5. While work of providing photo identity cards to voters of Indore 1, 2, 3 and 4 was done online, in rest of the places it was done off-line.
Overall, not more than 50 to 60 per cent of the voters came forwards to get themselves photographed for the photo-identity cards, whereas the Election Commission had mandated at least 90 per cent of the voters should have photo identity cards.
{{/usCountry}}Overall, not more than 50 to 60 per cent of the voters came forwards to get themselves photographed for the photo-identity cards, whereas the Election Commission had mandated at least 90 per cent of the voters should have photo identity cards.
{{/usCountry}}The Assembly segments where the work was done online the identity cards were distributed within a couple of days, but the real glitches occurred while delivering cards where the work had been done off-line.