VIJAYAWADA: As elections approach, voters have expressed their dissatisfaction over Mee Seva centres not providing information on new voter enrolment. Moreover, the centres remained deserted even as the voter enrolment process was to end in less than 24 hours.
M Satyaraju, an elderly person from Krishna district whose name did not appear in the voters’ list, wanted to enrol again but he faced problems at the Mee Seva centre. “The officials at the centre did not provide me information regarding the new voter enrolment. They asked me to check online or call the helpline,” he said.
As the elections are less than a month away, people whose names were not there on the voters’ list went to the Mee Seva centres to get themselves enrolled. March 15 was set as the deadline by officials for submitting Form 6 and getting enrolled.
Most people who tried to get themselves enrolled online faced problems as the server crashed. Even in the Mee Seva centres across the district, officials were reluctant to provide information to people because they were aware of the server crash.
People visiting centres in the rural areas also are facing severe problems as the officials are dodging off their responsibility and telling them to visit internet cafes and other government offices for attaining the information they seek. People from a poor background are having a tough time making several rounds to the centres and coming back empty-handed.
J Tirupati Rao, a farmer from Penamaluru said, “Even though I have voted before, I recently found out that my name was missing from the voters’ list. My voter ID card is also missing. When I called the toll free number, they told me to approach a nearby Mee Seva centre. When I visited the centre, officials there did not provide any information and they told me to check online or go to a government office. I am uneducated, I do not know how to apply online.”
Getting a voter ID card printed at Mee Seva centres has also become a Herculean task due to the server issues. Those who have been enrolled as voters recently get a confirmation message which they can show at the Mee Seva centres and get a voter ID card. However, due to server issues, these services at Mee Seva centres have also been halted for the last two days.
Speaking to TNIE, JV Satyanarayana, a Mee Seva centre owner, said, “In my village, almost 300 people were enrolled as voters through Mee Seva. We are facing problems only because of the servers. Officials are stating that the servers will be working from Saturday.”
Meanwhile, district officials are making arrangements at all polling stations for the people to walk in and get a voter ID card by submitting an offline application. As many as 4,000 booths have been equipped with this facility, which will be available only on Friday.