Tripura one of the highest EPIC coverage states

Agartala: Tripura has recorded almost cent per cent coverage of Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) along with six other states of the country.

The Election Commission of India had made EPIC mandatory for casting votes during last Assembly elections in Tripura and it was replicated in subsequent Assembly elections to Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Delhi.

The concept of photo electoral rolls was introduced in 2005 when it was tested as a pilot project during the revision of rolls in all the constituencies of Kerala and Puducherry, two constituencies of Haryana and in one constituency each in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, election officials said.

The EPIC coverage in Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Puducherry had already been recorded at 100 per cent while Tripura and Tamil Nadu recorded 99.98 and 99.36 per cent respectively, officials stated; adding Bihar recorded the lowest at 65.24 per cent.