Saturday 12 April 2014

Election awareness drives sweep Bidar off its feet

It was a day of Systematic Voter Education for Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programmes in Bidar.
It started with a signature campaign in areas with low polling percentage. Voters were asked to sign a pledge that they would not vote for any party or candidate against considerations or under fear.
Rajeev Jain, awareness observer from the Election Commission of India inaugurated the campaign by signing the pledge. He said that the polling time was extended by an hour in the evening and urged voters to make use of it.
Deputy Commissioner P.C. Jaffer said the SVEEP programme was being carried out in various innovative ways. Teams of folk artists have staged street plays in nearly half the villages in the district. Senior officials have spoken in special meetings in various colleges. In some colleges, first time voters were given application forms to add their names in the electoral rolls.
“We also organised a mock polling session in Lingaraj Appa engineering college. We have been organising brainstorming sessions for niche groups like government employees, non government organisations, doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers and women’s groups. Self Help Group members and Anganwadi workers did a door-to-door campaign tying rakhis to the male members of the families and inviting them to come out on April 17 and vote. Rangoli and painting competitions were organised for women and children,” he said.
Decision-making
Mr. Jain addressed a meeting of women’s groups later. He said women were adept in handling domestic affairs as they participated in the decision-making of the house. “It is time you come out in large numbers and take part in the decision making process in the country,” he said.
Later, at a meeting of medical officers, Mr. Jain said doctors in Gulbarga had started using a seal that spoke of the importance of polling. He hoped the polling percentage would cross 80 in Bidar where the last Lok Sabha election saw only around 53 per cent voting.
Mr. Jain and other senior officers also attended a convention of physically challenged persons at Rang Mandir. He asked them to be ambassadors of free and fair polling in the district. “There are 40,000 physically challenged persons in the district. Each one of them should vote and motivate others to do so,” he said.
Rathna Kalamdani, Deputy Director of Women and Child Welfare, Bansilal Pawar, Deputy Director of Disabled Welfare and others were present.

More:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/election-awareness-drives-sweep-bidar-off-its-feet/article5903715.ece

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