The Hindu : Front Page : Intensive verification begins

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 18, 2006

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Intensive verification begins

V. Jayanth

Electoral teams to visit State to check whether claims are being processed properly

CHENNAI: The Elections department here has set in motion an intensive verification of about 19 lakh applications submitted for inclusion in the electoral rolls.

Three teams, one of them led by Chief Electoral Officer Naresh Gupta, held discussions with District Collectors in three regions of the State on Friday and initiated the exercise of 100 per cent verification of all applications.

According to the Election Commission (EC), the Deputy Election Commissioner has informed the CEO that some teams will soon visit Tamil Nadu to check whether the claims are being processed properly. The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has sent detailed instructions to the District Election Officers on the processing of the applications.

EC sources say prima facie they have been told that despite repeated instructions, signatures of the claimants or family members who submitted the applications, have not been obtained by the officials who accepted the forms. This gave room to suspicion that other people, not belonging to the family, filed them.

The CEO has told the District Officers that the old addresses of the applicants had not been obtained during the verification process in the case of those who shifted.

As a result, these applicants could be enrolled in the new address without getting deleted from the earlier place of residence. The staff must therefore secure the old address, failing which the applications are liable to be rejected.

Field inquiry

What has caused concern is the impression that field staff have recommended inclusion of applications and accompanying documents without an inquiry. "This is patently incorrect. The field staff should be asked to invariably verify the facts before making their recommendation on any claim," the district officers have been told.

It has also come to notice that many people have applied without knowing that they have already been registered.

In one Assembly constituency in Coimbatore, about 4,000 applicants had already been registered. In the case of districts bordering Kerala, there have been attempts to register persons in Tamil Nadu, notwithstanding their registration in Kerala.

EC sources made it clear that the district and field officers will have to own up responsibility in the verification process. The Commission ordered action against 19 officials in West Bengal and deputed officers from other States as well, just as some Tamil Nadu officials had been sent to Kerala.

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