EPIC initiative elicits poor response

The initiative to help the homeless in City avail EPIC cards, and, thereby, involve them in the election process has just remained that.

Election Commission of India (ECI) Special Officer R Vishal deputed at Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), had directed election registration officers (EROs) and revenue officers (ROs) to accept applications from such people, verify their domicile and other details, and register them on the electoral roll.

Over a month since the initiative was started, the officials have been able to collect only 61 applications as on Sunday (April 7), last date to receive applications. A senior official said: “We will verify all details and only those with adequate proof of domicile, among other things, would be issued EPIC cards.”

While the idea was to have such an initiative across the City, it was later decided to identify some areas that host such people in the night. Another official attributed the response that the initiative received to practical difficulties. “Given that a lot of them are not aware of their rights, not too many voluntarily submitted their applications. All the applications received are through NGOs and verification process is on,” he said.