The Election Commission is likely to cover the entire electorate with Electoral Photo Identity Cards in less than two years, Chief Election Commssioner Navin Chawla said on Friday in Kolkata.
"Our voting population of 714 million is larger than those of Africa, Europe, North and South America. So far, 582 million EPICs have been distributed, covering about 82 per cent of them. We hope to distribute EPICs to 100 per cent of the voting population in less than two years," Chawla said in an interaction with members of the Merchants Chamber of Commerce.
While Tamil Nadu and Tripura have achieved 100 per cent EPIC distribution, Rajasthan and Kerala stood at nearly 99 per cent, he said, adding even a difficult state like Manipur has achieved nearly 60 per cent.
"There has been a reversal of trend between 2005 and 2009. While earlier, we had to run after voters for their EPICs, these days, they are coming to us," he said.
Chawla said the Election Commission was considering a proposal to allow outstation students living in hostels to volunteer as assistants to booth-level officers near their hostels. "We want the youth on campus to be our brand ambassadors." PTI
