ELECTOR’S PHOTO IDENTITY CARD (EPIC)
In 1958 , The Election Commission of India had
decided to prepare EPIC (Elector’s Photo Identity Card) for voters in
the country in order to improve transparency and fairness in the
Election process. The electoral rolls in all the states of India are now
available to us in computerized form, in order to improve quality and
accuracy of the electoral roll.
However, the Election Commission of India has now gone a step further. The black-and-white laminated voter identity cards — synonymous with poll reforms in India —- will soon be a thing of the past, as a number of states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Harayana, Meghalaya etc. are now issuing hard-plastic Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) with colour photograph of the elector.
Based on the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the state government has launched the project with the state' government's Information Technology wing — HARTRON — being assigned the duty to issue the EPIC to the people from their respective district headquarters.
HARTRON has already worked out the modalities the project, and has appointed Ecartesto carry out all the operations. The new EPIC will be issued to the voter within seven days of applying. While the new ones will be issued free of cost, those who already have the paper EPICs will have to pay a nominal fee to get it converted into the new plastic card.
While the new EPIC may not carry any hologram, like the existing ones, it will have an inbuilt security feature that could be seen only under ultraviolet rays. The new EPIC will carry all the personal details of the voter including his name, father's name, photograph, sex and date of birth. It will also carry a unique number and the address of the voter.
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