The Karnataka government will begin issuing Permanent Residence Certificates (PRC) as a document to help establish the genuineness of voters from July 21, amid objections from the Opposition BJP and ambiguous statements from the Election Commission of India.
The state government has said that it will begin issuing PRCs from July 21 at around 7,000 centres across the state, including Atalji Janasnehi Kendras and Bapuji Kendras. They can also be applied for online through the Seva Sindhu portal.
Meanwhile, the ECI has made ambiguous remarks on whether or not these will be accepted by the ECI while adjudicating during the claims and objections period during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
An ECI official told the Times of India, that it would accept PRCs if they are lawful, but added, “However, no executive order can be considered in the case of the PRC,” the ECI said. It is unclear what this means.
Towards the end of June, the state government had announced that it would issue PRCs to certify that a person is a permanent resident of the state, provided the resident meets certain criteria.
These include whether the person is born in Karnataka; has lived in the state for at least 10 years; has studied in the state up to Class 12; has a parent, guardian, or spouse living in the state; owns, possesses, or occupies residential property in that state, is registered on the electoral rolls, Aadhar, ration card, revenue documents or other government records in the state; if the person or their parent has served in government or a public institution for at least seven years; is married to a person living in the state; or has any other documentary, electronic or oral evidence to establish that Karnataka is their primary residence.
Currently, the door-to-door enumeration has been extended up to August 17. This will be followed by the claims and objections period between August 17 and September 16 during which the ECI will issue notices to people whose documents it considers out of order.