The Election Commission has agreed for sharing its electoral roll data with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on its request for identifying the age group targeted for the first phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive.
According to the Government’s blueprint, the vaccine will be offered first to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those above 50 years of age, followed by those below 50 with associated comorbidities.
The electoral roll data will help to identify people above the age of 50 in each polling station, the sources said. Now, the Commission is waiting for Govt’s another reply regarding the details for sharing the data and is working on how it can share the data without affecting the privacy of the people.
Last month, MHA held a meeting with the EC to understand the structure of the election machinery and how polls are conducted at the grassroots level. After that, MHA made the request to EC for sharing the data.
“Currently, we do not have any legal authority (to assist in the administration of the vaccine). To conduct elections, we are empowered under Article 324. But having said that, given the experience and expertise we have, if someone reaches out to us for a national cause, we will take a call,” the Chief Election Commissioner, Sunil Arora said.