The commission on Saturday came up with a detailed action plan for printing voter ID cards. EC on Thursday had decided to print 12.3 million voter ID cards for the upcoming CA polls. [break]
According to sources privy to the development, the commission will issue notice on Sunday seeking quotations for supplying paper for printing the voter ID cards.
As the deadline for the next CA election is approaching, the commission will give only three days to the listed suppliers to submit quotations.
Sources at EC said though EC has decided to buy printing papers from among the listed suppliers, the commission will print the statistical details of the voters itself.
As per the criteria set by the commission, a supplier should print an appeal to voters on the back side of the voter ID cards to cast their votes and a request to give the ID card back to the concerned person or to election office or to nearest police office if found lost.
EC will print the name of voter, his/her photo, address, date of birth, citizenship certificate number and serial number of ID card, among other details on the front side of ID card.
According to EC officials, one cannot reproduce a voter ID card by photocopying or other means. The voter ID cards will be colored and will be like normal ID cards with a plastic covering.
Asked how long the EC would take to print the proposed voter ID cards, Chief Election Commissioner Neel Kantha Uprety said it would take 10 to 12 days to print them.
He said they are yet to ascertain the total cost of printing voter ID cards. “The value of cards to voters outweighs its monetary value,” Uprety stated, “Now the challenge for us is to print and distribute the cards to the voters. However, we are equally concerned about the cost factor.”
Election Commissioner Ila Sharma said the commission aims to distribute voter ID cards a week before the CA election. “The voter ID cards will be distributed by volunteers at the polling locations,” she added.
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