(a) whether the Photo Identity Card introduced by the Election Commission has achieved the target;
(b) if so, the percentage of citizens in the country have been provided Photo Identity Cards so far; and
(c) the action taken to provide Photo Identity Card to the remaining citizens, State-wise?
MINISTER OF LAW, JUSTICE & COMPANY AFFAIRS (SHRI ARUN JAITLEY)
(a) to (c): Yes, Sir. According to the Election Commission of India, the electors` photo identity cards (EPICs) programme introduced by it has achieved substantial progress. Some States have achieved the minimum target of 85% specified by the Commission, some are very close to achieving the target and are likely to reach the target in near future. A statement showing the progress of issuance of EPICs as on 30.4.2002 is laid on the Table of the House. As regards the issue of these cards to the remaining electors, the Commission has informed that it has comprehensively reviewed the programme and launched its second phase in the year 2000, during which the residual electors who were not covered in the first phase of the programme are also covered alongwith the new electors whose names get enrolled in the electoral rolls after revision of electoral rolls every year. The electors who are not covered in the current programme will always constitute a residual part of the programme. The Commission`s continuous effort is to provide the EPICs to the electors who are left out in the previous campaigns as well as the new electors.
Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No.7522 dated 16.5.2002.
ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA
STATUS REPORT ON PROGRESS OF ELECTORS PHOTO IDENTITY CARDS
Sl.No. STATES/UTs Total Electors Electors Percent (figures issued with in 5 as % of 4) Defect-free Identity Cards
1 Andhra Pradesh 50,898,945 32,568,406 63.99 2 Arunachal Pra 638,718 373,452 58.47 3 Assam 14,426,221 67,479 0.47 4 Bihar 58,438,317 21,681,836 37.10 5 Goa 934,980 518,103 55.41 6 Gujarat 30,437,773 23,177,051 76.15 7 Haryana 12,275,952 9,182,618 74.80 8 Himachal Pra 3,978,795 2,659,253 66.84 9 J&K++ 5,022,782 0 0.00 10 Karnataka 35,123,307 24,612,144 70.07 11 Kerala 22,835,568 18,344,689 80.33 12 Madhya Pradesh 35,244,850 21,855,970 62.01 13 Maharashtra 58,285,729 44,455,999 76.27 14 Manipur 1,441,936 1,033,733 71.69 15 Meghalaya 1,206,720 713,632 59.14 16 Mizoram 457,434 0 0.00 17 Nagaland 966,275 625,996 64.78 18 Orissa 25,049,023 18,232,312 72.79 19 Punjab 15,606,639 11,785,471 75.52 20 Rajasthan 31,538,025 23,776,086 75.39 21 Sikkim 257,062 200,077 77.83 22 Tamil Nadu 47,365,189 31,662,414 66.85 23 Tripura 1,880,746 1,266,795 67.36 24 Uttar Pradesh 98,863,132 56,419,336 57.07 25 West Bengal 48,672,291 42,193,813 86.69 26 A & N Islands 258,296 195,072 75.52 27 Chandigarh 538,607 381,048 70.75 28 D & N Haveli 118,397 87,150 73.61 29 Daman & Diu 71,931 45,645 63.46 30 NCT of Delhi 8,186,002 4,368,226 53.36 31 Lakshadweep 36,738 31,813 86.59 32 Pondicherry 658,927 555,675 84.33 33 Chhattisgarh 12,737,705 5,398,879 42.39 34 Jharkhand+ 35 Uttaranchal 5,167,525 2,726,709 52.77
ALL INDIA TOTAL 629,620,537 401,196,882 63.72
+ Included in Bihar. Separate figures for the State are not available. ++ the scheme has not been extended to J&K.