In an attempt to increase the poll percentage in the coming elections, the district administration has launched a campaign to educate people on right to vote. As a part of the initiative the authorities have put up huge flexi-banners at the important junctions of the town, urging the voters to cast their franchise in the coming polls.
Polling percentageThe removal of the banners and posters, which was put up in every nook and corner of the district with the enforcement of model code of conduct, has made the way for the authorities to put up the banners and other promotion material. The officials observed that the polling percentage was below 70 per cent in over 750 polling booths in Srikakulam district during the last elections and Srikakulam, Rajam, Amadalavalasa and other areas also found to have cut a sorry figure in the polling percentage.
Such statistics has prompted the district machinery to take up a vigorous campaign to drive all the voters to polling booths on the day of elections. Srikakulam Collector Saurabh Gaur, Joint Collector G. Vira Pandiyan, Srikakulam District Revenue Officer Nur Bhasha Khasim held discussions with the representatives of various non-governmental organisation such as BREDS, ARTS, SWEEP, Helping Hands and Bhavita to organise rallies and meetings in remote and tribal areas to aware people on voting rights.
NGOs roped in“We have appointed nodal NGOs in all the 10 Assembly constituencies in the district for making the new voters and others to participate in the polls. We will make traders to put stickers about the polling dates on every pack so that people will come to vote on the scheduled day,” Mr.Saurabh Gaur told The Hindu .
Srikakulam District Water Management Agency (DWAMA) also decided to take up a special drive to create awareness about voting among the 5.5 lakh NREGS workers in the district. The administration has urged the voters not to accept bribes, liquor and other freebies from any political parties during the elections. DWAMA Project Director A. Kalyana Charavarti said that posters would play key role in helping villagers to know about the importance of elections. ARTS director Nuka Sanyasi Rao said that the response to the awareness rallies had been quite good in Amadalavalasa and Palakonda areas.
