Voter ID card too is not immune from bribery
In a recent raid, sleuths of the Fraud and Misappropriation Squad of the Crime Branch in New Delhi arrested eight people for printing fake voter ID cards. How rampant is the corruption involved in the issual of ID cards, we pondered.
Here are a few samples: “I paid a bribe of Rs. 2,000 to get my Voter ID card,” declared one of the respondents on our portal. Another respondent from New Delhi had to payRs. 1,000 to a government officer to get voter ID cards for his family. http://www.ipaidabribe.com/bribe-central/paid-1000-buks-get-voters-id-card-made
Payment of amounts ranging between Rs 125 and Rs 2,000 ensures voter ID cards emerge from nowhere, write respondents. In one particular case, the card was issued within 20 minutes of greasing palms. The individual had been trying to get it for three months prior to it.
The right to exercise one’s franchise is a salient feature of a democratic nation. Posing any form of hurdle to that is akin to striking at the very heart of democracy.
By Rupsa Chakraborty