New Delhi
The Election Commission is going to hold an important meeting next week. The meeting will include the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, Law Ministry and the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI). EC sources said that this meeting will be about linking Aadhaar with voter ID card. After amendment to the Representation of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 in 2021, Aadhaar was allowed to add EPIC (Electors Photo Identity Card). After this, the Election Commission started taking Aadhaar number from voters on voluntary basis. However, both databases have not yet been linked.
Emphasis on removing fake names from voter list
The aim of this step was to remove fake names from the voter list and make it clean. It was not necessary to add Aadhaar and Voter Card for this. Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Election Commissioner Vivek Joshi will meet Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Legislative Department Secretary Rajiv Mani and UIDAI CEO Bhuvanesh Kumar.
Discussion of linking Aadhaar with EPIC
In this meeting, linking Aadhaar with EPIC will be discussed. This meeting is taking place at a time when the Trinamool Congress has raised the issue of voters being the same EPIC number in West Bengal and other states. The Election Commission has admitted that the Chief Electoral Officers of some states used the wrong alphanumeric series while issuing the EPIC number.
What is the plan of Election Commission
The Election Commission has recently decided that it will issue new EPIC number to voters with duplicate numbers within three months. The Commission has said that having a duplicate number does not mean fake voters. Only those people who are registered in a particular constituency can vote. The main objective behind linking Aadhaar to EPIC is to make the voter list clean. This will help in identifying fake voters.
Many benefits of linking Aadhaar card with voter ID
There can be many benefits of connecting Aadhaar card with voter ID. For example, this can stop fake voting. The possibility of a person cast more than one place will be reduced. The problem of the name of the same person in the voter list can also be overcome. The Election Commission believes that this will further transparent the election process.
However, some people are also worrying about privacy on this step. They believe that this can leak people’s personal information. He is worried about violation of privacy. He says that linking sensitive information like Aadhaar with voter ID can be dangerous. It can also be a violation of people’s right to privacy.
The decision to add base-voter ID is important
The election has decided to talk to all parties on this issue. Hence a meeting has been called with officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Law Ministry and UIDAI. All aspects will be discussed in detail in this meeting. It has to be seen how EC handles this issue. The decision to connect Aadhaar with voter card is very important. This can bring transparency in the election process, but at the same time it is also necessary to protect people’s privacy. It will be discussed more in the coming time.
