Chief Election Commssioner Navin Chawla has said the Election Commission is likely to cover the entire electorate with Electoral Photo Identity Cards in less than two years. He said India's voting population of 714 million is larger than those of Africa, Europe, North and South America. In an interaction with members of the Merchants Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata on Friday, Mr Chawla said, so far, 582 million EPICs have been distributed, covering about 82 per cent of them. While Tamil Nadu and Tripura have achieved 100 per cent EPIC distribution, Rajasthan and Kerala stood at nearly 99 per cent, he said, adding even a difficult state like Manipur has achieved nearly 60 per cent. Mr Chawla said the Election Commission is considering a proposal to allow outstation students living in hostels to volunteer as assistants to booth-level officers near their hostels. Asked about complaints of EVM tampering, he said, the Commission is completely satisfied with EVMs. <br/> <br/>
News On AIR | November 21, 2009 10:57 AM
Photo Identity Cards in less than two years: EC