The revenue department in Gudalur is reaching out to tea estate workers and tribal communities in order to spread awareness about their duty to vote during the Lok Sabha elections, and to get them to vote ethically, without being swayed by bribes.
K.V. Rajkumar, Revenue Divisional Officer, Gudalur, said that a team of officials visited Nelliyalam in Pandalur on Monday, where they spoke to tea estate workers about the importance of their votes, and urged them to vote ethically. “We handed out fliers and also launched a signature campaign where people took an oath to vote ethically, for the best candidate,” said Mr. Rajkumar. More such awareness campaigns have been planned in TANTEA estates in Cherambadi and Pandiar in the coming days, said officials. “We have also asked the District Collector to speak to tea estate workers over a cup of tea, so that the message gets across to them,” another official added.
Apart from tea estate workers, officials are also reaching out to tribal communities in order to convince them to cast their vote during elections. The outreach is especially targeted at tribal communities that usually do not come out to vote in large numbers like the Kattunayakan communities in Gudalur.
Officials said that on Monday, members of the Kattunayakan tribe surrounding Gudalur town were used to spread the awareness message using songs among members of their own community. “We are also going to set up a photo booth where people can take a selfie stating that they are ethical workers,” said an official, adding that more campaigns aimed at women have also been planned.
