Kashmiri migrants don’t have to fill ‘Form M’

Jammu: Kashmiri migrants from Jammu and Udhampur districts of Jammu and Kashmir would no longer be required to fill up ‘Form M’ to vote in the Lok Sabha polls as the Election Commission has ordered changes to the existing voting scheme for the displaced people, fulfilling a long-standing demand.

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.

According to the new arrangement announced by the EC on Thursday, the Kashmiri Migrant electors in various camps or zones at Jammu and Udhampur shall no longer need to fill ‘Form M’. Instead, they shall be mapped with the special polling stations falling in the zones they are registered or residing in, the poll panel said.

In addition, the commission also eased the process of filing Form M by the migrants staying in Delhi and other places in the country, by allowing self-attestation instead of the earlier required certification by Gazetted officers.