Postcard writing may now be a passé, but the authorities in Dharwad are hoping to harness this medium of communication to convince citizens of the need to vote.
The district-level Systematic Voters Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) committee has launched a special postcard writing drive involving students, particularly those living in hostels, to sensitise voters.
As part of the drive, students are writing messages on postcards to their parents, urging them to visit polling booths and exercise their franchise without fail on April 23 (when North Karnataka goes to the polls). They have also urged them not to succumb to any kind of allure in terms of voting or candidate.
As many as 171 students — 81 residents of the post-graduate hostel at Karnatak University and 90 residents of another students hostel located at the police headquarters — participated in the postcard-writing event held recently.
District-level SVEEP committee head and Dharwad Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer B.C. Satish told The Hindu that the idea was to engage students in a voter awareness programme in a different way. He added that the response was encouraging.
At present, only students of classes 8 and 9 and residents of hostels are tagged with this programme, as the SSLC and PU students are busy preparing for their examinations.
Once the exams are over, they too will be made part of the drive.
As letter writing is becoming a rarity these days, this special drive may help rekindle interest in postcard writing, Mr. Satish said.
