eGovWatch: Voter cards to be linked to Aadhaar numbers to check duplication in Gurgaon

The Gurgaon administration has initiated a project to link voter identity cards to Aadhaar numbers in order to check duplication of voter identity cards.

To begin with, starting April 12, officials will begin what they called a ‘De-duplication Campaign’ to identify voters having more than one voter identity card.

“Often, some people get themselves registered as voters at two or more places, even if they do not want to do so. Because of exigencies, they fail to get their names deleted from the voters’ list at the previous place. We have come to know that some people in Kapashera (Delhi) have their votes in Gurgaon and vice-versa. For this purpose, we will be launching the ‘De-duplication Campaign’ at both places,” T L Satya Prakash, District Election Officer and Deputy Commissioner, said.

The campaign will run till the end of July and will be monitored by booth-level officers. “If need be, the administration will also carry out a door-to-door campaign in this regard,” Satya Prakash said.

Under the project, up to 35 per cent voter cards will be linked to Aadhaar numbers by April 30, 60 per cent by May 31, 80 per cent by June 30 and the rest by July 31.

“Feeding one’s Aadhaar number into the Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) database can be done by voters themselves through the National Voters Service Portal (NVSP). Voters can do this by sending an SMS to 51969 or an e-mail to the Returning Officer of their Assembly constituency,” Satya Prakash said.

Voters can also call the toll-free number 1950 or use a special mobile application that will be launched soon for this, he said.

The administration will also run a parallel campaign to complete the enrollment for Aadhaar by July-end.
For this, the administration, in addition to the existing enrollment machines, will buy 25 new machines to expedite the process.