Aadhaar takes backseat, as poll preparations grab centre stage

Aadhaar takes backseat, as poll preparations grab centre stageIn India, both the monsoon and election seasons are looked forward to with eagerness and trepidation. That's because no one can foretell when the downpour would be upon us. So, while officially the 16th Lok Sabha polls are to be held next year, in light of the prevailing uncertainty in the political climate, preparations are already on in full swing.

On the job: Engineers from Electronics Corporation of India Limited are currently examining EVMs in the district. File Pic

A team of engineers has arrived to check Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the city, which will be followed by a survey of polling booths by the district election department to decide whether or not Pune needs a few more of these. The drive to update photos in the voters' registration list is already in progress.

But in the course of the adminisJune 9
The date when the ECIL team will finish inspecting EVMs in the districttration's endeavour to be poll-ready, the ongoing Aadhaar card work might have to suffer. The district election department that has been handling these duties since the last two years, wants the job to be transferred to some other government wing, so it can concentrate on its poll-related assignments.

Unlikely victim: An Aadhaar card centre. File Pic

The Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) squad is already in the city for the first level of examination of EVMs. At least 10 per cent of the units will be reserved for emergency operations, while 5 per cent of the units will be used for training.

"Although Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to be held next year, the truth is they can be declared at any time. Keeping this in mind, we have to speed up the progress of our work," said deputy district election officer Apoorva Wankhede. She added that the district has 22,000 EVMs and after a thorough inspection of each, the faulty ones would have to be repaired immediately. The ECIL team would finish its work by
June 9.

"As far as the subject of reducing the pressure of Aadhaar work is concerned, I had already conveyed the message to district collector Vikas Deshmukh, requesting him to reallocate these duties to some other department, so that my staff can focus solely on election-related works," Wankhede added. u00a0