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New Delhi: Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal Fali H. Major has not been able to vote for the last 10 years.
Its because like most people in the armed forces, he has not been home during elections.
He has now sought streamlining of the voting system for the armed forces. "The last I voted was 10 years ago when I was at my home on vacation. In total I have voted only four times," Major said.
Born in 1947, Major joined the IAF in 1967. The fact that the IAF chief has voted only four times during his 41 years of service underscores the failure of successive governments to give effective voting rights to the armed forces.
A majority of Indian armed forces personnel have never voted during their service tenure. With the Lok Sabha elections due next year, armed forces personnel hope the issue will be resolved as soon as possible.
"Though there are proxy voting system and postal ballot system in place, things have not materialised as they were desired," said Major, who is the first helicopter pilot to have been appointed IAF chief.
Theoretically, soldiers can vote through postal ballots or by proxy - but there are deficiencies in both systems.
The postal ballot system has proved inadequate and inefficient due to the long delays involved in sending out voting sheets to the different places where defence personnel are posted.
"I have never voted during my 16 years of service. During the last general election, I received my postal ballot well after the new government was formed," an air force officer said.
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