Editorial
ID cards and voters' list
Looking at the technicalities
A couple of advisers in the caretaker government have let it be known that the preparation of ID cards as part of the electoral process could take a long time. That may be understandable, up to a point. What matters now is how soon, or if at all, the nation's voters can be provided with ID cards before the forthcoming general elections. There are quite a few concerns that arise here. There is, for starters, the thought of the overall IT strength, indeed the human resources, the authorities can draw on as they plan to produce the cards. It then follows that the caretaker government as also the country must be satisfied that we have the requisite technical ability to follow through on the plan. What happens if there is an inadequacy where such ability is concerned? One of the most significant aspects of the projected ID card issue relates to the costs such a move will entail. The caretaker administration as well as the Election Commission ought to be able to let the country in on the details here. Obviously, the expenses involved in a preparation of ID cards must cover the wider issue of whether we have the requisite technical know-how to take IT facilities to voters across the country, which fundamentally means the rural regions. It will be futile to begin an ID card program and then have to abandon it in the face of poor planning. The fact that there are as many as nine crore voters in the country cannot be obscured. The question, therefore, is whether IT methods as they operate at present are capable of ensuring an ID card for each one of these voters. Since the provision of ID cards naturally includes photographs, the authorities would be well-advised to satisfy themselves that the images of all voters can be obtained in the time they have before them, meaning before they can organize the elections. Now, the matter of ID cards notwithstanding, there remains the perennial issue of a proper, foolproof voters' list. Yet here too our experience has been rather upsetting given that there are now three voters' lists we must contend with. Which one of these can the country make use of? One perhaps knows the answer to that question already. The likelihood is that we will need to go into the business of a voters' list all over again if we mean to have a credible election. That will, as in the matter of ID cards, require time. And since they will, it would only be proper that the caretaker authorities call in experts to determine the time needed to go through such an exercise. Once that is done, let the matter be placed before the political parties. In the final reckoning, it is on how long they can wait before the polls take place that everything depends. Let, therefore, a clear view emerge from the corridors of government in this regard.
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