With the aim of increasing turnout in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Delhi on Wednesday launched voter awareness forums (VAFs), which will be set up by government departments, private companies and NGOs.
Marking the launch of the VAF initiative of the Election Commission of India in Delhi, CEO Ranbir Singh spoke of the need for increasing awareness.
He said that the election authorities would work with the 700 members of the Confederation of Indian Industry in Delhi to set up VAFs in their respective offices.
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Apart from sensitising employees about the importance of their vote, the forums will be used to teach people how use Electronic Voting Machines and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail machines, which will be provided for demonstrations.
Like the Electoral Literacy Clubs in schools make students aware of the importance of voting, the VAFs will be used to spread awareness among employees.
East Delhi constituencyADVERTISEMENT
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In addition, the East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency got five e-rickshaws to spread awareness among voters starting on Wednesday.
East Delhi and Shahdara districts DM K. Mahesh said the e-rickshaws would travel through the lanes and bylanes of the constituency over the next month to spread awareness.
“The purpose of the e-vehicles is to deepen democracy horizontally and vertically through voter awareness by using five environment-friendly rickshaws that will cover a population of 19.42 lakh, in 1,844 polling stations in 324 polling buildings in 30 days,” said Mr. Mahesh.
Last week, the East Delhi election authorities had become the first to launch a vehicle that takes an EVM and VVPAT machine to residents to make them aware of how to use them. Since this vehicle, ‘Democracy on Wheels’, will not be able to travel in the bylanes of congested areas, the e-rickshaws will be used to reach out to more people.