A resident of Golconda, Md. Abdul Mannan had a surprise visitor last week when his calling bell rang. A man in postal department uniform confirmed his name and said that the department has received his Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) card.
A surprised Mannan said, “I had applied for EPIC on the last date of the registration and surprised at the alarming pace with which my voter card has been processed and the same delivered at my residence. I thank the Postman and the Postmaster for arranging an early delivery at my residence”.
Syed Hadi, a resident of Utnoor in tribal dominated Adilabad district is overjoyed at receiving his maiden EPIC card. “I am 19-year-old first time voter. I am thrilled at getting the voter card that will make me take part in voting. I had applied a month ago and got the EPIC quickly,” he noted.
Laxmi Rajyam, residing in Motinagar under Sanatnagar Assembly constituency recalled how they had to run from pillar to post to check if their EPIC cards were ready. “I appreciate the effective and timely delivery of the EPIC,” he said. The family of Mohammed Rafiq of Kishannagar said all the EPIC cards were received by them through the postman of the local post office on November 20.
The effort of the postmen in these massive exercise too deserves a mention. N. Anil Babu, postman at Karwan sub-post office, who works at Beat 8 says he received over 4,000 EPIC cards for delivery in November alone. “I worked extra time and delivered 90%. However, 10% could not be delivered due to reasons like improper address or due to non-availability of door numbers and voters being unresponsive to phone calls,” he said.
His colleague postman Y.Samba Raju of Golconda Sub-post office says though the volume of EPIC cards looks frightening. “But, the joy in the faces of the voters motivates us further,” he said.
These few examples showcase the Telangana Postal Circle’s pivotal role in this process of delivering the EPIC Cards and Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballots (ETPBs) on a war-footing as the department personnel race against time to ensure every eligible voter gets his/her card ahead of the State Assembly elections on November 30.
Election Commission of India is collaborating with the Department of Posts for door step delivery of the EPICs and ETPBs to the Returning Officers.
Chief Post-Master General, Telangana Postal Circle, Dr. P.Vidyasagar Reddy told The Hindu on Friday that since January 2022, the Telangana Postal Circle has booked 59.51 Lakh EPICs and delivered 50.36 Lakh EIPCs. “In the month of November alone, more than 22.18 Lakh EPICs were booked and 16.67 Lakh EPICs delivered as on November 21,” he said adding that all the 6269 Post Offices and 17015 Postal Staff are on the job round the clock to meet the deadline.
The CPMG noted that in the GHMC limits alone, 4.45 Lakh EPICs have been delivered from the first of this month. “Special Arrangements were made for opening of 43 Post Offices receiving higher EPIC volumes on Sunday and Holidays such as Diwali with a dedicated team of 409 Postmen staff thereby ensuring delivery of nearly 1.34 Lakh EPICs,” he pointed out.
Dr. Reddy also elaborated on the EPIC Grievance Redressal Mechanism handled by the postal department. He stated that to enhance accountability and address voter grievances, the Circle has brought in a QR based Online Grievances Resolution Mechanism. “This facility allows customers to report EPIC non-delivery issues by scanning a dedicated QR Code Image that triggers an instant response from specialized Grievances Handling Teams at the Circle, Regional, Divisional and Post Office levels,” he said.
Once the grievance is resolved, the customers are promptly informed via email and a random selection of complainants undergoes follow-up calls to reinforce the commitment to transparent and efficient grievance redressal.
