EC sends team to hospitals to register July uprising injured as voters

The Election Commission has sent its officials to hospitals to register those injured during the July uprising as voters.

At the same time, the officials will also make corrections if the national identification cards (NIDs) of the injured people contain any errors.

So far, they have gone to three hospitals as part of the initiative.

A four-member team from the EC came to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Medical University Hospital to conduct registrations at 9am. It is to continue until 5pm.

The officer in charge of the programme is Md Shahabuddin, an assistant programmer at the EC who is working on the second phase of the IDEA Project. He said that after the July uprising, registration work had already been completed in two hospitals. Today, work is going on for the third day at BSMMU, also known as PG Hospital.

He said, "After the July uprising, this work has already been carried out at the Agargaon Eye Hospital and the Pongu Hospital [National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation]. Today, I am working at PG Hospital and tomorrow I am assigned to Dhaka Medical College."

Stating that in addition to the injured, those attending to the injured – their parents, brothers, and sisters – are also able to make use of the service. Those who did not get NID cards or have lost theirs or want to correct them are also being served.

As of noon, 38 people had been registered, Shahabuddin said.

Md Isme Azam, who was injured during the July-August uprising, came to register.

He said, “I was injured in front of Ashulia Police Station six months ago. This is my first time voting. I came to make use of this service and become a voter.”

“I was injured twice, the first time on Jul 28 and the second time on Aug 5. The first time was by the Chhatra League and the second time I was shot by police."

Md Yasir Arafat, a student of Mir Abdul Gafur College, is registered to vote in Cumilla’s Debidwar.

“I have been injured since Aug 4. My lower back was broken in a Chhatra League attack. Since then, I have been admitted to PG Hospital. Today, I came here to correct some mistakes on my NID card.

Earlier on Tuesday morning, Election Commission Director General ASM Humayun Kabir, System Manager Muhammad Ashraf Hossain, Expatriate Service Branch Director Abdul Momin Sarkar and others inspected the programme for the injured.

On Monday, the EC sent letters in this regard to three hospitals.

EC's NID Wing Director (Registration and Expatriates) Md Abdul Momin Sarkar sent a letter on the matter to the directors general of the National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and the director of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

It said that the door-to-door collection of information to update the voter list began on Jan 20. As many of those who led the July uprising at the time of the nation's crisis are still receiving treatment in hospital beds.

As such, they wanted EC officials to go to hospitals to collect their information and biometric data for registration. Assistance would also be provided to fix any mistakes on their NIDs, the letter said.

The hospital authorities have been requested to cooperate in keeping the concerned persons ready at the scheduled time to collect information and biometrics of the injured students and other people undergoing treatment as per the specified schedule.

Registration is ongoing at BSMMU on Tuesday and it will be made available at the burn institute and DMCH on Wednesday.