Kashmiri Pandits laud EC for doing away with ‘Form M’

Jammu, April 19

A Kashmiri Pandit organisation on Friday lauded the Election Commission’s move to scrap the mandatory filing of ‘Form M’ for displaced Kashmiri voters ahead of the parliamentary elections and urged the community to turn up in large numbers for the poll.

Speaking to reporters, RK Bhat, president of Youth All India Kashmiri Samaj, said the ‘Form M’ process was the biggest hurdle in migrant votes share, resulting in a low turnout.

Fulfilling a long-standing demand and making changes to the existing voting scheme for the displaced people, the EC on April 11 announced that Kashmiri migrants from Jammu and Udhampur districts would no longer be required to fill ‘Form M’ to cast their votes.

Instead, they shall be mapped with special polling stations falling in the zones they were registered or residing in, the poll panel had said.

Earlier, the filing of the form was mandatory for displaced voters from the Valley ahead of every parliamentary and Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir.

In addition, the commission also eased the process of filing ‘Form M’ by migrants staying in Delhi and other places in the country, by allowing self-attestation instead of the earlier required certification by gazetted officers. “We welcome the abolition of the mandatory M-Form filing for displaced Pandit voters. This decision will facilitate greater participation and a higher turnout in the poll, ensuring the community’s voice is heard,” Bhat said.