Visakhapatnam: The Election Commission (EC) is conducting an electoral verification programme that will go on till October 30. The exercise has been taken up to update the electoral rolls . All data obtained during the programme will be fed into the National Voter Service Portal application.

However, field surveyors tasked with verifying and rectifying data are finding it difficult to convince people to provide photocopies of their Aadhaar card. Speaking to TOI, a field surveyor, on condition of anonymity, said, “Although we tell the people that the data will be entered by the local booth officers, some people are unwilling to part with copies of their Aadhaar card.”

Some people are also apprehensive of handing over photocopies of their Aadhar card to field officers.

K Satyanarayana, a resident of Maharanipeta pointed out, “When the field officer asked for my Aadhaar card to rectify errors in my voter ID, I was apprehensive. One cannot simply hand over one’s Aadhaar card or a copy to anybody.” He further alleged that this exercise was nothing but an attempt to link Aadhar with the voter ID.

Trying to allay the fears of the public, N Sridevi, the DRO of Visakhapatnam stated, “This exercise is being taken up by the Election Commission and the data will be entered into the application by the concerned booth officer.”

“After all, they cannot enter the data into the application from anywhere as they require connectivity. This is why concerned field officials are requesting voters for a copy of their Aadhaar,” Sridevi added.

Sources in the revenue department added that the fears were unfounded and Aadhaar numbers would not be put up on the public domain.

