‘There’s Nothing Like Voting, It’s Your Right & Privilege’- Zilla Panchayat CEO Kumara at Human Chain & Jaatha held in front of MCC Building, Lalbagh, Mangaluru on Sunday, 7 May 2023 at 7 am, with the theme ” Our Step Towards Polling Booth’ to encourage people to VOTE in the forthcoming State Assembly Elections. “THERE IS NOTHING LIKE VOTING, I VOTE FOR SURE”!
Mangaluru: Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation program, better known as ‘SVEEP’ committee of Dakshina Kannada district is leaving no stone unturned to reach out to over 17.5 lakh voters and ensure that all have ink on their fingers on May 10. For this, the committee has decided to reach out to at least two lakh voters through various social media platforms. Information regarding Voter Helpline to register for voting, campaigns to attract more voters to the polling stations and various initiatives of the Election Commission are being shared on social media platforms.
SVEEP is the flagship program of the Election Commission of India for voter education, spreading voter awareness and promoting voter literacy in India. Since 2009, they have been working towards preparing India’s electors and equipping them with basic knowledge related to the electoral process. SVEEP’s primary goal is to build a truly participative democracy in India by encouraging all eligible citizens to vote and make informed decisions during the elections. The programme is based on multiple generals as well as targeted interventions which are designed according to the socio-economic, cultural and demographic profile of the state as well as the history of electoral participation in previous rounds of elections and learning thereof.
Added to many other programmes conducted in the past by SVEEP, on Sunday 7 May 2023, Zilla Panchayath, Dakshina Kannada District SVEEP Committee and Mangaluru City Corporation organized a HUMAN CHAIN and a JAATHA in front of Mangaluru City Corporation building, Lalbagh, Mangaluru. Seniors, adults, and youth joined in the Human Chain, and Jaatha proceeded from the MCC Lalbagh location via Ladyhill, Mannagudda, and Ballalbagh and culminated back at MCC Building. The project was flagged off by a Senior Citizen Ramaiah HN, aged 95 hailing from Arenahalli in Mysuru District, along with Zilla Panchayath CEO Kumara, joined by other dignitaries, namely- Krishnamurthy- DK Additional Deputy Commissioner; Channabasappa-MCC Commissioner; Dr Bhasker N- MUDA Commissioner; Er Sathyaranjan Rao-President, Association of Consulting Civil Engineers (I), Mangaluru Chapter; Sudesh Kumar- MD, Mayur Builders; among others.
Age is Just a Number! 95-year-old RAMAIAH H N all Exited to Vote again on 10 May
Zilla panchayat CEO Kumar, who is also the chairman of the SVEEP committee speaking on the occasion said ” Apart from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp which were used to share information regarding; voter awareness among voters, this Human Chain and Jaatha is yet another programme to bring awareness among people to cast their valuable vote on 10 May State Assembly Elections. Our goal is to increase the voter turnout in the assembly election. In 2018, the district had registered 77.67% polling, which was 6% more than the state average. Meanwhile, in 2013, the district had registered 74.48%. This indicates that the district has increased its performance compared to the previous election”.
” In Mangaluru City South, the polling percentage was 10% less than the district average in 2018. To increase voter turnout in all constituencies, we have circulated information through social media to reach at least two lakh voters per day, among many other awareness programmes, including this one. May 10th 2023 is a Festival of Democracy, where Democracy will be at its best when the voices of the people are heard. Here comes a golden opportunity to exercise your right to vote on that day. The elected representatives of your locality make significant decisions that can impact many aspects of your life. It will affect the standard of living and progress of our motherland at large. Hence, your vote is important and can make a huge difference. Your esteemed presence and positive participation in this great festival of democracy are very much needed. So don’t forget to vote on 10 May, because there is nothing like VOTING, and it’s Your Right and Privilege”. added Kumara.
Speaking to Team Mangalorean, ZP-CEO Kumara said, ” The SVEEP committee has already prepared lists of target audiences on various platforms. For example, the Facebook page of Dakshina Kannada zilla panchayat has nearly 9,000 followers. Similarly, ZP’s Twitter account also has over 4,000 followers. In addition, the website of the Zilla panchayat has over 30,000 followers. Further, we have YouTube, WhatsApp groups of village accountants, voter awareness forums, and 1,000-plus groups of electoral literacy clubs. Besides this, we are collecting data of social media pages of MRPL, MCF, NMPT, shopping malls and other establishments and they will also be roped in to share contents.”.
” To encourage more people to vote, the SVEEP committee has involved popular actor Aravind Bolar, who has a good mass appeal, in the voter awareness activity. Yakshagana artists are also involved. The committee held cartoon exhibitions in colleges and residential apartments. A weekly e-paper ‘E Forcus’ on voter awareness is being brought out” said Kumara. Calling elections the festival of democracy, Kumara asked the youth to celebrate this festival with joy. “You should not only participate yourself but also encourage your family and friends to vote,” he said and added that it is necessary that voting is ethical and informed. Voting right gives a great responsibility to the voter to select the right representative. Exercise this right with due responsibility,” he said.
Speaking to Team Mangalorean, 95-year-old Ramaiah HN, hailing from Arenahalli in Mysuru District who had come down to Mangaluru to visit his family members, and who was present at today’s Human Chain and Jaatha said, ” Since I had started voting after reaching my voting age, I have never stopped voting. It is not right to stay away from voting, just because of health issues. Everyone must cast their right. I have no idea how many times I have cast my vote. But, I have never missed any election. We give nothing to the country. We should at least vote to elect our representatives. Seeing all these youths here, they should never miss voting. Sitting at home on election day browsing or chatting on mobile phones, the youth will lose a lifetime opportunity of voting. They should get out and vote like I did when I was their age”.
First-time voters, Ms Manasa Aras ( doing BCA at Shree Devi College); Ms Pooja Rai ( student of Karavali College of Pharmacy) and Ms Padmashree ( student of A J College of Health Science), all three 18 years of age said, “Having learnt a lot about voting from the SVEEP committee programmes we are all excited about voting, and can’t wait for 10 May. We have been keenly observing the political developments in the State over the last few months. We are aware that our vote will make a lot of difference, and we don’t want to waste it. We need good leaders, so we will not vote for the candidate by seeing the party, we will go for his or her performance and how he or she is going to solve the issues in our areas. We will vote for the best candidate who will solve various issues related to the community. We want to see a change from caste-based and religion-based politics. We need a government that does not disrupt the social fabric of the state. This is our first vote and we need a government which sees all the communities equally,”
The programme was compered by Guruprasad of MCC, and Nagendra, a ATPO at MCC sang his composition on Voting in Kannada, to the tune of Tulu Song ‘MOKEDA SINGARI” from the 1972 Tulu movie “PAGETHA PUGE”. A job well done by SVEEP of DK and MCC in bringing awareness among the public to go and vote on 10 May, without fail.
