Women take a pledge to vote during a parent teacher meeting (PTM) initiative by the district administration of Bokaro.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bokaro: Around 97,000 people took part in a unique ‘parents-teachers meeting (PTM) on voting’ in Jharkhand's Bokaro district, making a pledge to exercise their franchise in the constituencies of Dhanbad and Giridih.
While the PTM was underway on April 19, another 1.51 lakh rural women - all belonging to different Self Help Groups (SHGs) - gathered in another meeting to discuss ways to make the biggest democratic exercise in the world a grand success in the constituencies.
The objective behind organising such a massive voter awareness campaign is to make as many people aware as possible about the upcoming polling day on May 25, a senior official said.
"We saw a congregation of about 2.5 lakh people on a single day who participated in the meetings. All of them pledged to vote on May 25 when these two constituencies go to polls. Didis (women) of 796 villages gathered and actively participated in the meeting. The same day, the PTM was organised in 1,590 schools," District Election Officer and Deputy Commissioner, Bokaro, Jadhav Vijaya Narayan Rao, told PTI.
Bokaro saw 51 per cent voter turnout in the 2019 general elections, and the administration has launched multiple programmes to increase the figure. Bokaro district is part of two parliamentary constituencies - Dhanbad and Giridih.
The Giridih Lok Sabha seat has 18.35 lakh voters, while the total electorate in Dhanbad is 22.48 lakh.
Lok Sabha polls in Jharkhand will be held in four phases on May 13, 20, 25 and June 1.
The official said apart from 1,51,732 rural women belonging to 14,700 SHGs participating in the ‘Meeting on Voting’ programme, 97,000 parents in 1,590 schools raised slogans in the PTM like ‘we have to go to vote, we have to fulfill our duties’.
“We sat together and deliberated on the election agenda. We discussed registration, the required documentation for those who don’t have voter cards, identification of polling booths, the process of filing complaints about electoral malpractices, among other issues,” Rao said.
"We have ensured wheelchairs, tricycles for persons with disabilities, besides making ‘Divyang’-friendly booths with ramps, functional toilets and other amenities," he said.
Several other initiatives like electoral literacy camps and setting up of 230 ‘democratic’ classrooms have been taken under the Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP).
SVEEP is the flagship programme of the Election Commission to educate, spread awareness and promote literacy among voters.
'We are making all efforts to ensure free and fair polls. A Voter Helpline App, C-Vigil App and helpline number are available for resolving polling-related issues. One can complain about any violation of the Model Code of Conduct through the C-VIGIL app,” SVEEP's Nodal Officer Prabhash Dutta told PTI.
"There are also arrangements for autorickshaws with volunteers for bringing the elderly to the booths. There will be separate queues and priority will be given to the disabled and senior voters. Sheds, chairs and parking facilities in urban polling stations will be made available, too," Dutta said.