The collectorate has launched the mobile van service to issue voter ID cards to citizens in different parts of the city.

Earlier, people had to collect their ID cards from a Designated Polling Location (DPL) in their respective constituency.

The collectorate will continue to distribute the cards at such locations this year as well. But keeping in view the new system of delimitation, the collectorate office has designed a special van to issue identity cards to voters at their doorsteps.

Natvarsinh Dodiya, District Election Officer, told Newsline: “This is a totally new concept. This van will travel to various areas from 5th to 10th March to hand over the cards. We have targeted this service at those areas that have registered a voting percentage of below 80. This service has also been publicised through advertisements and pamphlets. The basic objective behind this is to help generate awareness among voters that they need to have their election identity cards with them.”

The mobile van will cover various areas like Naroda, Amraiwadi, Vatva, Asarwa, Ellisbridge, Thakkarbapanagar, Bapunagar and Nikol from 8 am to 12 am and 4 pm to 10 pm. This facility can be availed till March 10. The collectorate also aims to solve other problems of voters, like voter identity cards riddled with errors and names missing in voter’s list, through this novel concept.

Dodiya added: “We are considering the idea of starting a helpline to address issues related with voter identity cards and voter’s list. This helpline will be sanctioned from Gandhinagar and will start working 15-20 days before the elections.”