The Voters Helpline and District Contact Centre set up at the office of the District Election Officer in Dharwad for the Dharwad Lok Sabha elections, which was launched on March 16, has received good response from the public, Deputy Commissioner Divya Prabhu has said.
In a press release, she has said that the District Contact Centre for Elections is functioning round the clock (24 x 7) with six personnel working in eight-hour shifts under the supervision of Registrar of University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) Dharwad Jayalaxmi Rathod.
The Voters Helpline [1950] is a toll-free number with PRI (Priority Rate Interface) because of which several calls can be received at a time. Any voter living within the boundaries of Dharwad district can call the helpline number from landline or mobile phone.
Any person living outside Dharwad district or in other States has to prefix the STD code of Dharwad before dialing the helpline. The electorate can seek clarification on poll and voter list related issues.
Ever since the helpline was launched, callers have sought clarification on multiple issues, including new applications, missing names in voter list, modification of name, sex and phone number, change of address, EPIC and others, the release said.
The Deputy Commissioner said that most of the calls received at the contact centre were from young and new voters, especially from rural areas. Every call is being documented and the information is being passed on to the central office. Subsequently, within 24 to 48 hours, after getting report on specific queries from respective departments, mails are being sent to the official email ID of the Election Commission with the opinion of the District Election Officer, she added.
