The use of ‘Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPIC)’ by the Election Commission of India was started in which one of the following years ?
- (a)1992
- (b)1993
- (c)1995
- (d)2001
Correct — B, 1993. The Electors Photo Identity Card was introduced in 1993, during the tenure of Chief Election Commissioner T. N. Seshan, as a way of tying a name on the roll to a face at the polling station and so cutting impersonation. It arrived in the middle of a run of election reforms — electronic voting machines had been tried first in a by-election in Kerala in May 1982 and were given statutory backing by a 1988 amendment to the Representation of the People Act, 1951; a none-of-the-above option followed a Supreme Court ruling in September 2013; and the voter-verifiable paper audit trail reached all parliamentary constituencies only in 2019. Placing the card in that sequence is easier than remembering the bare year.
- (a)1992 — A year early. Nothing in the reform sequence starts here — 1992 is the year of the constitutional amendments on panchayats and municipalities, which is a different subject that often bleeds into memory.
- (c)1995 — Two years late. By 1995 the card was already being issued; the roll-out was slow and continued for years afterwards, which is why later dates feel plausible.
- (d)2001 — Far too late. This confuses the start of the card with the much later push to link and digitise electoral records; the card itself belongs to the early 1990s reform wave.
The Election Commission of India holds the superintendence, direction and control of elections under Article 324, prepares and revises the electoral rolls, and recognises political parties. Deciding an election dispute is not its job — that goes to the courts on an election petition. The photo identity card is an administrative device of that first function: one general electoral roll for each territorial constituency, and a card that lets a polling officer match the elector to the entry.
The chronology is the memory aid. Electronic voting machines came first, in a 1982 trial; the photo identity card in 1993; the none-of-the-above option in 2013; and the paper audit trail across all constituencies in 2019. Note one honest wrinkle in that ordering — the paper trail was first used in a Nagaland by-poll in September 2013, slightly before the September 2013 ruling on the none-of-the-above option, so the sequence holds on nationwide availability rather than on first trial. The present-day position has moved on again: the card now exists in a digital form that an elector can download, and the linking of electoral records to other identity databases has been the live controversy rather than the card itself.
- The Electors Photo Identity Card was introduced in 1993, under Chief Election Commissioner T. N. Seshan.
- Electronic voting machines were first tried in May 1982 in a by-election in Kerala, and were given statutory backing by a 1988 amendment to the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
- Electronic voting machines were used in all 543 parliamentary constituencies for the first time in 2004.
- The Supreme Court ruled on the none-of-the-above option on 27 September 2013.
- The voter-verifiable paper audit trail was extended to all 543 constituencies in the 2019 general election.
Fix the order first; the year of the card then falls out of the sequence.
- Sliding the card to 1995 or later because the roll-out took years; the introduction is what is asked.
- Confusing the card with the electoral roll. One is a document issued to an elector; the other is the register itself.
- Assuming the Commission decides election disputes. That is for the courts.
As a bare year-of-introduction item, or folded into a chronology question ordering electronic voting machines, the photo card, the none-of-the-above option and the paper audit trail.
Consider the following tasks: 1. Superintendence, direction and conduct of free and fair elections 2. Preparation of electoral rolls for all elections to the Parliament, State Legislatures and the Office of the President and the Vice-President 3. Giving recognition to political parties and individuals contesting the election 4. Proclamation of final verdict in the case of election disputes Which of the above are the functions of the Election Commission?
- (a) 1, 2 and 3
- (b) 2, 3 and 4
- (c) 1 and 3
- (d) 1, 2 and 4
Answer(a) 1, 2 and 3
The parent question behind this one. Issuing a photo identity card belongs to the roll-preparation function that item accepts, and the same item rules out the one thing the Commission does not do — deliver a final verdict in an election dispute.
CDS_GK_2021_II_Q992021Which of the following statements regarding the electoral rolls is/are correct? 1. There is one general electoral roll for every territorial constituency. 2. No person is ineligible for inclusion in the electoral roll on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or any of them. 3. A citizen of India, not less than 18 years of age, can cast his/her vote unless disqualified under a law of an appropriate legislature. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 1, 2 and 3
- (c) 2 and 3 only
- (d) 1 and 2 only
Answer(b) 1, 2 and 3
The register the card is drawn from. One general roll for each territorial constituency, open to every adult citizen who is not disqualified — the photo card is simply the document that ties an elector to that entry at the polling station.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Electronic voting machines were used in all parliamentary constituencies of India for the first time in which one of the following general elections?
- (a)1998
- (b)1999
- (c)2004
- (d)2009
Answer(c) 2004 — after a first trial in a Kerala by-election in 1982 and a statutory amendment in 1988.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Under which Article of the Constitution of India does the Election Commission exercise superintendence, direction and control of elections?
- (a)Article 315
- (b)Article 324
- (c)Article 330
- (d)Article 343
Answer(b) Article 324 — which also covers the preparation of electoral rolls for Parliament and the State Legislatures.