NP Singh (third from right), district magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar, along with others holds the annual diary of FONRWA, which was also released during the event
If you haven’t received your voter ID card yet, fret not. You can still vote.
NP Singh, the district magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar who is also the returning officer of the district, has assured the issuance of voting slips for those who don't have voter ID cards.
Singh said, “The voting slips will have a photo and details of the voters. It will relieve them of the need to carry voter ID cards to the polling station, which was earlier mandatory. Those who have received their voting slips need not bring their voter ID cards. But those who haven’t must ensure that they collect theirs from the respective booth level officers [BLOs].”
Singh was speaking at an awareness event held at the Federation of Noida RWA’s (FONRWA) office in Sector 52, Noida, on January 22.
NP Singh, president of the federation, AN Dhawan, secretary general, members of the federation and representative of several RWAs were present at the event.
The returning officer also shared a 24x7 toll-free helpline number, 18001805326, where voters could register their grievances. He said that the BLOs had been instructed to reach out to the voters and families residing in the district to give them their voting slips in advance.
Singh said his office had received as many as 8,000 filled-up application forms for addition, correction or transfer of name in the revised electoral roll, and these were submitted after the release of the revised electoral roll on January 12. These forms were submitted between January 12 and January 16. He assured that after a thorough scrutiny of these forms, they would be added in the final electoral roll.
He also expressed his concern about the low turnout of voters in the district for polls. He said, “If I look at the previous poll records, the turnout is between 50 per cent and 55 per cent. If you are eligible to vote, you must vote.”
Anil Kumar, a resident of Sector 53, Noida, urged Singh to segregate polling stations of villagers and residents of the sectors for convenience. He said, “There are 10 polling stations in the local village Gijhor, which is close to my sector. But Sector 53 does not have a single polling station.”
Responding to him, the returning officer said, “For any change in the electoral roll, voters’ consent is mandatory. There are rules for setting up polling stations at a new place. It requires segregation of names of residents of the sectors and names of villages in the electoral rolls. Due to this complexity, the polling stations cannot be set up at a new place.”
