LANDI KOTAL: The number of voters in both constituencies of National Assembly in Khyber Agency has increased from 336,778 to 423,268, according to Agency Election Commissioner Pervaiz Iqbal.

Talking to Dawn after a walk, organised by local office of Election Commission of Pakistan on Thursday to create awareness among tribal people about importance of voter registration, he said that a mobile registration van (MRV) would visit each house in Bara to enlist maximum number of women voters.

Mr Iqbal showed satisfactionover the pace of voter registration in the tribal region, however, he was not happy with the less number of women voters.

The walk, held in Jamrud, was attended by tribal elders, members of civil society, local journalists and officials of both the political administration and ECP.

However, activists of political parties, two local MNAs and two senators were conspicuous by their absence despite an invitation by the organisers of the walk.

It was third walk of its kind in Khyber Agency since the start of registration of new voters in August 2016. Holding banners and placards, the participants of the walk marched through the main Jamrud Bazaar and reached Bab-iKhyber.

`The number of women voters has declined in Bara subdivision in comparison to their enrolment prior to the 2013 general elections,` said Mr 1gbal while sharing latest number of registered voters in both the National Assemblyconstituencies of NA-45 (Jamrud and Landi Kotal) and NA-46 (Bara and Tirah).

According to the figures, the number of voters in both the constituencies has shown slight increase from 336,778 in 2013 to 423,268 since the start of voter registration in 2016. The registered voters include 245,984 men and 211,000 women.

Mr Iqbal said that his office arranged for mobile registration van (MRV) that would go to doorto-door in Bara to register maximum number of women voters.

He said that a sizeable number of both men and women eligible voters were still without Computerised National Identity Cards. He added that they could not be included in the voters list till they acquired CNICs.

`We are also working in close coordination with Nadra to ensure issuance of maximum number of CNICs to eligible voters prior to finalisation of our list,` said the official.He said that his office had approached local politicians and parliamentarians to not only remove their reservations over the process of voter registration but to take them on board in creating awareness among people about importance of vote.

`Unfortunately these people approach our office only when the date for general elections is announced to raise objections over the entire process,` said Mr Iqbal. He added that it was time thatrepresentatives ofallthe segments of the tribal society come forward and share their views and reservations with his staff and registration teams.

He said that his office had time and again conveyed the massage to all the stakeholders to help them in creating awareness among tribal people by utilising all possible resources and platforms so that maximum number of voters, especially women, could be registered prior to announcement of 2018 generalelections.