Who says I am an Indian citizen?
I have only the following documents to prove my citizenship:
A valid passport issued by the Government of India!
A valid driving licence, issued by the Government of India!
A Permanent Account Number (PAN), issued by the Government of India!
A Voter Identity Card, issued by the Government of India!
These documents we keep so securely and use, as and when required, to prove our identity
But the same documents become useless pieces of paper if you name is not in the Voters' List!
I agree that to cast your vote, one has to have one's name in the Voters' List. But, in case one's name does not appear in the Voters' List for any reason, shouldn't there be a provision to check the person's identity and get the name included in the list, if the person is able to show all valid ID proofs?
The Election Commission has been making claims to have gone totally high-tech and is using all means to encourage and motivate the voters to cast their vote. Not having one's name in the Voters' List is not the fault of the voter.
These lists are prepared by the paan chewing clerical staff of the government, which reaches office not before 11 a.m., then goes for morning tea for an hour, and before they start working, its already lunch time for them. A list, which is being made manually, may have flaws by all means, for which the voter should not suffer.
The argument given to me is that I should have checked my name in the list. So, tell me how do I suppose that my name would automatically be struck off the list? I never go to Income Tax office to tell them that I am alive but name is there in the tax payers list. If I take a loan from a bank and don't pay for five years, still the list of defaulters has my name, its not struck off. So, if the government has issued a Voter Card to me (in 2007) my name should have been in the list! But, it is not!!!
What my point is that in this age of internet, the Election Commission should evolve a system where if a person, whose name is not in the Voters' List, presents his/her valid IDs, his/her name is added then and there and that person is allowed to cast his/her vote.
If we cannot do this much, we have no right to call ourselves a nation living in the 21st Century. If everything has been made so high-tech, why can't we have a system to include those voters who have voters cards but their names have been struck off the list.
I felt so disheartened today! It seems like my own country has disowned me despite me carrying several proofs to confirm my citizenship, only because my name was not in the list!!!
I have only the following documents to prove my citizenship:
A valid passport issued by the Government of India!
A valid driving licence, issued by the Government of India!
A Permanent Account Number (PAN), issued by the Government of India!
A Voter Identity Card, issued by the Government of India!
These documents we keep so securely and use, as and when required, to prove our identity
But the same documents become useless pieces of paper if you name is not in the Voters' List!
I agree that to cast your vote, one has to have one's name in the Voters' List. But, in case one's name does not appear in the Voters' List for any reason, shouldn't there be a provision to check the person's identity and get the name included in the list, if the person is able to show all valid ID proofs?
The Election Commission has been making claims to have gone totally high-tech and is using all means to encourage and motivate the voters to cast their vote. Not having one's name in the Voters' List is not the fault of the voter.
These lists are prepared by the paan chewing clerical staff of the government, which reaches office not before 11 a.m., then goes for morning tea for an hour, and before they start working, its already lunch time for them. A list, which is being made manually, may have flaws by all means, for which the voter should not suffer.
The argument given to me is that I should have checked my name in the list. So, tell me how do I suppose that my name would automatically be struck off the list? I never go to Income Tax office to tell them that I am alive but name is there in the tax payers list. If I take a loan from a bank and don't pay for five years, still the list of defaulters has my name, its not struck off. So, if the government has issued a Voter Card to me (in 2007) my name should have been in the list! But, it is not!!!
What my point is that in this age of internet, the Election Commission should evolve a system where if a person, whose name is not in the Voters' List, presents his/her valid IDs, his/her name is added then and there and that person is allowed to cast his/her vote.
If we cannot do this much, we have no right to call ourselves a nation living in the 21st Century. If everything has been made so high-tech, why can't we have a system to include those voters who have voters cards but their names have been struck off the list.
I felt so disheartened today! It seems like my own country has disowned me despite me carrying several proofs to confirm my citizenship, only because my name was not in the list!!!
