On-duty NCC cadets miss out on voting

Most were unaware of the postal ballot option

November 03, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:41 am IST - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:

KERALA:THIRUVANANTHAPURAM::02/11/2015: A student Special  Police Officer lends a helping hand to a physically challenged voter at a polling station at Sharkara near Chirayinkizh near Thiruvananthapuram.........Photo:S_Mahinsha

KERALA:THIRUVANANTHAPURAM::02/11/2015: A student Special Police Officer lends a helping hand to a physically challenged voter at a polling station at Sharkara near Chirayinkizh near Thiruvananthapuram.........Photo:S_Mahinsha

The call of duty has shattered the dreams of several National Cadet Corps (NCC) in exercising their franchise for the first time. The deployment of young cadets in booths, away from their place of residence, deprived them the opportunity to vote. The NCC cadets were deployed in polling centres having more than one booth to assist voters and poll officials.

S. Midhun, a first-year B.Sc. Polymer Chemistry student at Government College, Attingal, was cherishing the dream to vote for long, after becoming eligible to vote. Being deployed for poll duty at Government Upper Primary School, Annex, at Chirayinkeezhu, which is a few km away from the polling centre where he is registered, he could not cast his vote.

“I got enrolled in the electoral list after Lok Sabha polls and was keen on casting ballot in the local body polls. A few days ago, we were directed to be part of poll duty. I was not aware that postal ballot option was open for us. Till I came for duty I was under the impression that postal ballot was meant for government employees,” he said.

Midhun said more than 20 cadets, some of them first time voters, from the college were on election duty in booths under the Attingal municipal limits.

“Many of my friends could not vote. I will exercise my franchise in the coming Assembly polls even if on duty,” he said.

Around 100 cadets

A poll official said around 100 cadets were deployed in the district along with Student Police Cadets. “We thought the students were aware of postal vote. We will certainly educate the cadets before enrolling them for election duty,” the official said.

The students would be given an amount of Rs.2,000 as duty allowance, the official said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.