Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 31: The electorates of Jammu and Kashmir have gone up to 68.62 lakh during just ended summary revision of electoral rolls undertaken by the Election Commission of India across the country. The final rolls would be published on January 15, 2013.
The summary revision, which had started in September, 2012, has led to an increase of 3.06 lakh voters across the State, majority of whom were first time electorates, who had attained the age of 18 years, official sources told the Excelsior.
The revised voter lists were due to be published on January 5, 2013 but the Election Commission has extended the date to January 15 due to delay in revision in some State.
Total voters in Jammu and Kashmir earlier stood at 66.83 lakh including 34.95 lakh male and 31.88 lakh female. Jammu division had 30.98 lakh voters including 16.18 lakh male and 14.80 lakh female while Kashmir division including Ladakh region had 35.84 lakh electorates including 18.76 lakh male and 17.08 lakh females.
Sources said 3.06 lakh new voters have been added across the State during summary revision including 1.77 lakh in Kashmir division including Ladakh region (91,658 male and 86,038 females) while in Jammu division, 1.29 lakh new voters have been added (61,825 male and 67,445 females).
However, at the same time, 1.27 lakh voters have been deleted from the lists either due to deaths or shifting of residences. The deletions included 59,815 in Jammu division (24,983 male and 34,832 females) and 67,634 in Kashmir division (27,412 male and 40,222 females).
With 3.06 lakh additions and 1.27 lakh deletions, the net increase of voters has been worked out at 1.79 lakh, sources said.
With 66.83 lakh previous electorates, number of the voters after the fresh summary revision has gone up to 68.62 lakh including 31.68 lakh in Jammu division and 36.94 lakh in Kashmir division. The figures of Kashmir division included over 2 lakh voters of Ladakh region, which has four Assembly segments.
The Election Commission had fixed the target of including 5 lakh new voters, who had attained the age of 18 years in the list of electorates. However, it included 3.06 lakh new voters, which was quite significant though it fell short of target. Sources said majority of electorates, who were eligible for inclusion as voters, have been enrolled in the new list being published on January 15, 2013.
The inclusion of such a large number of electorates was possible due to massive awareness created by the Election Commission in the State through various modes.
Sources said the summary revision of electorates was carried out for all Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies across the State.
“The task has been completed and the final touches were being given before publication of electoral rolls on January 15, 2013 in the State along with entire country”, sources said.
They added that the Election Commission also proposed to distribute 5 lakh Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) on January 26, 2013 on the occasion of National Voters Day.
The distribution of new EPICs would start on January 26, sources said, adding that the Election Commission has already prepared a number of EPICs across the State.
The summary revision showed that male voters continued to dominate the voter lists though in Jammu division, this year, more female voters have recorded their names in the voter lists. Of 66.83 lakh electorates earlier, there were 34.94 lakh male and 31.88 lakh females while now, out of 68.62 lakh voters, there were 35.95 lakh male and 32.66 lakh females.
Out of 1.29 lakh addition of voters in Jammu this year, the number of female voters stood at 67,445 as against 61,825 male. However, in Kashmir division, of 1.77 lakh addition, number of male voters was 91.658 as against 86,038 females.
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