NEW DELHI: The Election Commission, as part of its continuing efforts to eliminate bogus voters, has called a meeting on Tuesday with Union home secretary, legislative affairs secretary and the CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to discuss issues relating to linking of Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) with Aadhaar.
Sources in the commission told TOI on Saturday that the upcoming discussion is part of an initiative by the recently-appointed chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to bring in necessary reforms to tighten the electoral processes and ensure that every voter gets to exercise his franchise by eliminating bogus voters and any duplicate entries in the electoral rolls.
As of now, an Indian citizen can voluntarily furnish his Aadhaar number at the time of enrolment and even post-enrolment. A good chunk of voters have already provided their Aadhaar number to the Election Commission, creating a ready database to seed Aadhaar number with EPIC number.
Aadhaar, as per sources, is seen as the most reliable and error-free method of identification, as it involves authentication of an elector through biometrics like iris scan and fingerprints. “Identifying a voter by Aadhaar authentication will leave no scope for bogus and duplicate votes,” said an officer. As of now, furnishing Aadhaar, as per rules, is not mandatory.
