Hyderabad: Graduates irked by mandatory attestation by gazetted official to enroll their names in the voters list

Hyderabad: Even as political parties are encouraging eligible graduates to enroll their names in the voters list, they are finding it difficult to get attestation from a gazetted officer, which is mandatory to apply for enrolment.

As per the rule, the graduates who are eligible for voting in the Council elections should get their certificates attested by a gazetted officer and then should apply through Form 18. However, most of them are not keen on approaching the gazetted officer for the signature. There are no issues for people in urban areas, but in rural areas, the graduates are not getting the signatures easily.

The political parties, particularly the ruling TRS, has been encouraging the graduates to enroll their names in the list by taking up special campaigns. The local leaders are asking graduates to enroll their names in the list, but they are puzzled when the graduates are asking them to arrange the signature of the gazetted officer for attestation of their certificates.

At some places, the party workers are asking the graduates to give a copy of their certificate so that they can get them attested from a gazetted official. However, the graduates are not ready to give their certificate as they are afraid of misuse. K Santosh Kumar, a graduate said, "Why should we give our certificate to them? If we get a signature from a gazetted officer, we will enroll otherwise, we will not."

The graduates want the authorities to remove the attestation by the official. "At a time when self-attestation is sought in many programmes, why should there be an attestation by a gazetted officer. I am a graduate and I certify myself that I am an eligible voter," said an advocate K Siddharth. He said that the Election Commission should do away with the old rules.