The district administration has taken up many activities to enhance turnout in the Lok Sabha elections, particularly in areas that recorded lesser poll percentages in the 2013 Assembly elections.
The district Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) committee, headed by zilla panchayat Chief Executive Officer Upendra Pratap Singh, has taken up a survey in areas around 100 polling booths that recorded the least turnout. The committee has involved anganwadi and ASHA workers, along with National Service Scheme volunteers, in this purpose. The survey aims to cover at least 100 houses coming within the limits of these polling booths.
Most of the 100 booths are located in urban localities. The lowest turnout for the 2013 Assembly polls, 35.4 per cent, was recorded in S.M. Krishna Nagar here.
“Volunteers have completed the survey, and we are receiving the data from them. They have found that many did not vote because they were either transferred elsewhere or stayed out of town for some personal reason. We are campaigning extensively in these areas,” said Vinod Chandra, Assistant Director of Information and nodal officer of the SVEEP committee.
Hassan is considered to have a politically sensitive population, and recorded a turnout of 76.88 per cent last year.
The committee has hired an autorickshaw equipped with a sound system to spread the message on importance of voting rights. “Till now we campaigned about enrolment of voters. People have until March 16 to enrol in the voters’ list. From Monday onwards, we will campaign asking voters to exercise their franchise without fail,” Mr. Chandra said.
Colleges have been asked to hold activities that inculcate interest in voting among students.
