Enrolment of youth in electoral roll is quite low: Addl CEO
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 19 2021: Additional Chief Electoral Officer Naorem Praveen has cate-gorically stated that the enrolment of youths in the age group of 18-21 years in the voter list is quite low.

Speaking to media persons during a discussion programme on Special Summary Revision held a few days back, N Praveen continued that maintenance of proper electoral rolls is mandatory to conduct elections successfully.

Saying that only 20,727 of the 1,23,756 persons in the said age group have been enrolled in the voter list, he reiterated that the figure is very negligible as it accounts only 8 percent of the actual number.

The low rate of enrolment among the people in this age bracket might be related to education as most of the students prefer to go outside for higher studies, he said and added that the figure could increase somewhat this year as many of the students have returned homes due to the Covid pandemic and as facility for virtual enrolment has been implemented.

N Praveen further stated that a provision has been considered to make both offline and virtual modes of enrolment more user friendly to ensure no one is left out.

Saying that class X certificate and declaration from parents and concerned Pradhans in the case of those who don't attend schools and orphans respectively could be used as age proof certificates, N Praveen maintained that the Election Commission of India has not approved use of Aadhaar card as valid age proof document for the time being.

He further stated that one can use MGNREGA account, Ration card, Bank passbook etc as residential certificate.

Even if a person doesn't possess these documents, one can send a recommendation from the Gram Panchayat to BLO for verification, N Praveen infor- med and added that necessary actions will be taken if any BLOs/BLAs are found neglecting duties.

The Addl CEO also informed that initiatives are underway to find out errors in the voter lists, such as non deletion of deceased persons and duplication of names, among others.

He said that about 33,000 cases of duplication of names have already been identified.

While the number of voters in the 18-21 age group is lower than the actual figure, the case is contradictory in the old age group as the number in the list exceeds the total population, he added.

Such errors could create unwanted incidents during the election, N Praveen said.

Expressing disappointment on the lack of support in correcting the errors at booth level, the Addl CEO said that support from the people at booth level would be of great help in correcting such errors.

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