Private school students to nudge parents to vote

Students of private English-medium schools will take a pledge to persuade their parents, guardians and family members to vote in the assembly elections due on December 7.

State chief electoral officer Anand Kumar has asked district electoral officers (DEOs) to get letters of pledge signed by the students, especially of private schools in cities and towns, so that the voting percentage will increase in urban areas.

In the last polls, government school students were asked to fill in the letters of pledge, which led to an increase in voting percentage. For the upcoming polls, Kumar wrote to DEOs last month to involve private school students in the exercise organised under the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme, an election commission initiative.

In what is called urban apathy, many city people enrolled in the voters’ list do not go to booths to exercise their franchise. Students will be roped in to nudge their parents and family members to vote, poll officials said.

The parents have been asked to post selfies with their children after voting, showing fingers with indelible ink marks. Three best selfies will be selected for felicitation on the National Voters’ Day on January 25, 2019.

“More than 65 lakh letters of pledge were filled last time. The process will begin this time from November 12 and the letters will be submitted to the district electoral officers by November 21,” Kumar said. The 2013 elections had nearly 10% more people turn out to cast vote (75.67%) in comparison to the 2008 polls (66.49%).

District electoral officers will appoint district education officers as nodal officers for the work, the letter said. Though district education officers do not have direct control over private institutions, electoral officers will coordinate with the schools to get the letters of pledge filled in.

JAIPUR: