New Delhi: Seven siblings, clutching Class X and XII marksheets and passing certificates, their Aadhaar cards and photocopies of several other documents, arrived at Zeenat Mahal School in Kamla Market to prove they shared the same parents.Yet another family stood in front of an official, explaining why their father’s name had the prefix ‘Mohammad’ in their documents but not in the 2002 electoral rolls.As Delhi races towards the Sept 30 deadline to address “discrepancies” and add names of those who didn’t find a place in the draft voter list, camps have been set up across the city by Delhi’s election office.TOI visited one such camp at the Zeenat Mahal School near Hamdard Building Thursday. The process was largely smooth, with security personnel guiding residents and managing the flow. A steady stream of people arrived at the camp, many carrying documents to address spelling errors, surname and name mismatches, discrepancies in dates of birth and other details, or to establish family relationships.The camp has been running since Sept 9, with residents being called according to the dates mentioned in the notices issued to them. Over 500 people are arriving daily, an official at the camp said.Sana, 27, a resident of Chawri Bazaar, and her six siblings were there to establish their familial relationships. “We were asked to bring documents to establish the relationship, so we came with papers carrying our father’s name,” she said.Mohammad Mairajman Soori, 47, arrived at the camp with his sister and wife. He said the prefix ‘Mohammad’ was used in their names, but it was missing from their father’s name in the 2002 electoral records used for mapping. The family was asked to provide documents to establish their relationship with their father.He said they were asked to produce documents such as class X or XII certificates, Aadhaar cards or other records. However, with his father no longer alive, the family found itself in a fix. “My father is no more and we do not have the certificate. An Aadhaar card cannot prove that he is my father,” he said, adding that his father had run a small business.Other families arrived with different discrepancies to be corrected. In one case, a family from Turkman Gate came with documents after finding that the age and address mentioned in the form did not match the details in their supporting documents. They were asked to bring the relevant papers to get the information corrected.Residents also reported spelling errors, surname mismatches, incorrect dates of birth and mistakes made while filling out the forms.An official at the camp, who did not wish to be named, said residents had been given set dates and times to appear to ensure that the process remained manageable despite the large turnout.The official said some residents had not mentioned their parents’ names during the last mapping process, while others had discrepancies in their age or date of birth. Mistakes made while filling out the forms were another issue, he said.Documents brought by residents are collected and uploaded by the officials at the camp, he said, adding that all the corrections are being completed on the same day and the process generally takes around five minutes.
