Citizens for Democracy convenor Elvis Gomes making a point on the SIR affecting Non Resident Indians from Goa. Pic Santosh Mirajkar.
Expressing concerns regarding the proposed deletion of 90,000 voters under ASDD and issues affecting Non-Resident Indian (NRI) voters under the SIR, the Citizens for Democracy has urged the Election Commission of India to extend the SIR enumeration period for Non-Resident Indians, who are currently outside India, by a minimum of three months to allow them reasonable time to comply with the procedure.
The NGO has further demanded that the enumeration period may be further extended by another week for genuine left out voters who have fallen in the ASDD bracket to seek rollback.
Addressing the media, CFD convenor and former bureaucrat, Elvis Gomes has said the ECI can very well extended the enumeration period by three months saying such as precedent was established by the Government of India during the 'demonetisation' exercise, which granted NRIs a longer period to deposit Specified Bank Notes.
In respect of the Summary Deletion of Voters with Commercial Addresses, Gomes said an unambiguous, mandatory directive must be issued to all BLOs, AEROs, and EROs requiring the summary deletion of all voters registered with addresses at commercial establishments that are either non-operational or clearly unsuitable for residential purposes, without the requirement for a Form 7 to be filled by the public. “Similar action is warranted against those who have vacated Government accommodation and have used roll back or attempting to. Those responsible for such roll back should also be made liable to face action under the ROPA besides disciplinary action”, he said.
Claiming discrimination and Injustice to the NRI Community, the CFD has drawn attention of the Chief Election Commission that the SIR exercise has imposed a disproportionate burden on Goa’s large Non-Resident Indian (NRI) community. “Grouping Goa, which has a reasonably high rate of working abroad for livelihood, with 11 other States for a uniform, time-bound, one-month exercise demonstrates a lack of appreciation for the specific socio-economic dynamics of the State. With public employment opportunities traded by scammers with regularity, many right thinking Goans work abroad under harsh conditions with little time to spare for themselves. This makes it difficult for entire households to be aware of and comply with the SIR procedures in time”, Gomes stated in his letter.
He added: “The ECI’s reliance on the online link as a solution for NRIs is inadequate and problematic: The link became operational only after seven days and was fraught with technical hitches. The system requires a perfect character match between the Aadhaar card and the Voter ID. It mandates the voter's India-based phone number to be linked to the Voter ID prior to the commencement of the SIR for the purpose of receiving an OTP. These strict, pre-requirements effectively discriminate against NRIs who do not maintain an active Indian phone connection or whose records may have minor clerical discrepancies, rendering the online facility unusable for the very population it was meant to serve”.
