During physical verification, officials check if such voters are alive or still living in Delhi. (FILE)
Ahead of the February 8 elections in Delhi, nearly 150 centenarian voters have been identified by poll authorities, officials said on Tuesday.
According to sources, these 150 centenarians have been identified and verified, and figures will be updated once the entire verification process is over.
During physical verification, officials check if such voters are alive or still living in Delhi.
Delhi CEO Ranbir Singh said these voters will be extended all the facilities they enjoyed in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Asked about the gender break-up of the figures, he said that data is yet to be finalised and added that the CEO Office team is endeavouring to identify all centenarians.
"A senior officer will go to the houses of each of these centenarian voters, residing nearest to the polling station in a constituency, and escort them to the booths. They will also motivate them to vote unless they are bedridden and their health doesn't permit," the CEO said.
"But if such voters are still eager to vote despite their frailty, we will make all possible arrangements to ensure they exercise their franchise. They will also be given priority in voting, so they don't have to stand in line," he said.
At polling stations, they will be greeted with bouquets and election staff would take selfies with them, he said.
Bachchan Singh, 111, the oldest voter in the 2019 elections in the national capital, who resided in Tilak Nagar died last December.
Ram Pyari Shankwar, 110, who is suffering from age-related ailments for the last one decade and lives in East Delhi's Kondli, was identified as the oldest woman voter in the city in the last general elections.
The CEO said members of Bharat Scouts and guides are assisting the poll officials in the physical verification process.
"Our staffers are going to each of these centenarians to physically check them, and on polling day, they will get pick-and-drop facility to the polling station," he said.
Elections in Delhi are due on February 8 and the Delhi CEO office is making all arrangements to facilitate elderly citizens and voters with a disability.
"Special arrangements would be made for Delhi voters who are aged 100 and above. They will be made to feel like ''VVIPs''," Bachchan Singh said.
In the 2019 general elections, the Delhi CEO Office had identified 96 centenarian voters in the city, and women had outnumbered men in that category.
According to data shared by the Delhi CEO Office, there were 42 male centenarian voters and 54 females in that category during last year's polls.
"We have been trying for the last four months to identify all voters who are aged 100 or above. This is the first such initiative to cater to such elderly voters who were born before Independence and saw the first general elections in 1952. For us, they are VVIP voters and they will be treated as such," Bachchan Singh had said last year ahead of 2019 polls.