India is under the grip of election fever. The Lok Sabha elections are to be held next month, starting from April 16. These elections will determine who is appointed to the most powerful lower house of Parliament.
Keen to have a say in India’s future, many people are enrolling to vote for the first time. You’d need to be very enthusiastic though, as the process is likely to take up days of your time. Of course, that’s hardly unexpected, as government offices are involved.
As reported in the Hindustan Times, here’s a summary of the ordeal some people have had to go through to be able to cast their vote.
Applicant #1 – Unsuccessful
- Applicant reached the registration office on Sunday at 11 a.m. Was told to go and get a document photocopied.
- Returned to find the counter unattended.
- Returned again at 1 p.m. to find the counter closed for lunch.
- Returned at 4 p.m., but was informed that the counter was closing for the day, and to come back on Monday.
- Applicant explained that he wouldn’t be able to come on working days, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
- Had to give up and wasn’t able to enroll.
Applicant #2 – Successful After 5 Attempts
- Applicant waited half an hour, only to be told that the counter had closed at 4 p.m.
- Returned the next day. The officer spent 40 minutes trying to find the applicant’s address in over a dozen 200-page books.
- Was told by the officer to bring his parents’ voter ID cards for reference, even though it wasn’t a required document.
- Returned the next day at 12.30 p.m. only to find the office shut for lunch.
- Returned on the day before the Holi Festival but was informed that no new forms were being accepted that day.
- Success on the fifth day.
I’ve had to battle the Indian bureaucracy myself on numerous occasions, so these poor people have both my empathy and sympathy.
However, if you think the enrollment process is bad enough, wait and see what happens on election days!
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I am registered now! Thank God! I started trying to get it done in 2003. Finally got it done in 2009. Hopefully, I should get the Voters ID card too before they are obsolete!