Internet Browsing Centres to do Electoral Roll Works in Madurai District

From October 1,2013 Internet browsing centres in the Madurai District would begin operating as representatives of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and perform works such as -

• inclusion
• deletion or correction

of entries in the electoral rolls

Following instructions from the ECI, Collector L. Subramanian, who is also District Election Officer, has invited applications from browsing centres to sign memorandums of understanding (MoU) with him and begin offering online services at ECI-prescribed costs.

The Collector said -

• the MoUs were only to provide an additional facility to the electorate
• complaints such as wrong photographs
• wrong names and addresses getting printed in the voters’ identity cards 

can be avoided while applying online as the applicants can verify all the details personally before submitting the applications

People could also continue to approach booth-level officers in their localities and get the work done free of cost as usual.

S. Senthil Kumar, who runs a browsing centre on Nethaji Road here and is also vice-president of Madurai Browsing Centre Owners Welfare Association, said many browsing centres had evinced interest in signing MoUs with the Collector but they were dissatisfied with the prescribed rates.

“The work does not involve just filling of online applications. It requires scanning of photographs, uploading them and verification of all necessary documents like ration cards. It is unfair to fix Rs.10 for the work. We can manage only if the volume of customers is high,” he said.