Our dynamic Government introduced the mandatory Identity card as Adhar card or the UID which to my belief was a good step. But then there’s the issue of multiplicity of Identity cards in India. To name a few- Pan card, UID, Driving licence, Medical Insurance cards, Electoral poll cards, passports. Most of all wallets are filled with such identity cards, not to mention the additional load of debit/ credit cards .
Every card has its use only at specific departments. I understand the aspect of Driving licence as not all citizens can have one. But why isn’t it an acceptable ID proof at certain airports or other places. As if, it isnt a valid ID proof of citizenship?
Every department need a specific type of Identity and if the citizen doesn’t possess that, his application is rejected for the same blurry reason.
My concern is why can’t we have one or maybe two such identity cards which can be accepted at all places, and at all departments. It reduces the work of so many departments. All accounts and all ID cards can be linked as they belong to same one person. This will also help in reducing any chances of fake ID cards which in turn can reduce frauds and mischief.
All this came to my notice during this U.P. elections 2017 when I was looking for my electoral poll card. I found mine but certain other members of my family didn’t have one. And the ones who had didn’t have the name in their constituency’s list of voters. It was surprising as during the last elections the same place had their name on the list. Due to this discrepancy they couldn’t cast their vote which was 4 in number. I am sure certain other people might have or could have suffered the same situation. It could be one of the reasons for lesser people voting in the elections.
Over a decade ago we had the old paper ballot system which was later replaced by electronic voting machines (EVMs). No doubt it was a great advancement. But I have a desire to take it a step forward.
I want to eliminate the multiplicity of the cards and use our Adhar cards for voting. Almost every citizen has an Adhar card so why not put the same card for more use.
This EVM can be re-designed in a manner that it could read the barcode on our Adhar card, just like ATMs where we insert the debit card, and the respective voter can cast his vote.
Just like Immigration centres have officials matching the person with the photo on the passport, the official here at the elections can match the face and the voter can cast its vote. It reduces the hassles of BLOs and uses less time and lesser paper. No list would have to be maintained or supplied to the voters just before the elections.
Thank you.
-A concerned citizen of a Developing nation