(MENAFN-Khaleej Times) general elections are held in india once every five years, but government agencies entrusted with the task of enrolling voters appear to realise this only at the last moment
Last sunday, for instance, a special registration drive was held across maharashtra to encourage citizens to register for voting. unfortunately, there is an abysmal lack of information about the places that voters have to go for registration of documents. many of the websites of government agencies are unable to provide specific details, preferring generalisations. the same happens with other government documents such as the unique identification authority of india, which issues aadhaar, the much-touted national identity card launched by the upa government. in a busy city like mumbai, most residents do not have the time to stand in long queues at government offices to apply for cards, whether for aadhaar or for voting.
Most would prefer to get an online appointment and visit a centre — whose detailed address should be clearly provided with telephone numbers — and get the chore done within 30 to 45 minutes. but the lethargic functioning of officials at these centres means that an applicant has to visit the place several times and even then there is no certainty about getting the cards. even poor and uneducated citizens, who do not have access to internet, find the task to be bothersome. for instance, new voters in navi mumbai — which has witnessed a sharp increase in population in recent years — are facing harassment at election registration centres. even getting a basic form (which is to be given away for free) to fill up the details is proving to be difficult and touts are taking advantage, selling the forms. many residents have complained of forms being sold illegally near the centres and rude officials who do not give them the forms.
Worse, thousands of residents had filled up the forms and submitted them to the centres many months ago, but are still to get the photo identity cards. hundreds of thousands of voters in mumbai are deprived of their franchise every time an election is held, thanks to the inefficient functioning of government departments.
Today, getting a permanent account number (pan) for income-tax purposes has been simplified to a great extent by allowing private agencies to handle the task. citizens can download the forms online, fill them up, pay the charges online and then post or courier them to select agencies. the cards are delivered in no time.
The election commission of india has introduced a similar system for online registration of voters, but the system has a lot of teething problems and the response from voters has not been good.
In mumbai there are nearly 10 million eligible voters this time (and nearly 80 million across maharashtra). but the hassles of getting a voter card discourage many from exercising their franchise. in the 2009 general elections, the voter turnout in mumbai was less than 45 per cent (and in the whole of maharashtra it was just 50 per cent).
Analysts do not expect a significant improvement this time too. and voting in mumbai takes place on april 24, a thursday; many are already planning a long, four-day weekend break, and airlines have started offering hefty discounts for this unexpected holiday.
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