BMC to award cash prizes to societies, colleges that register the most voters
Civic body to give away cash up to Rs10,000 in a bid to encourage people to exercise their democratic right
MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has spruced up its current voter registration programme for citizens. Till October 14, cooperative housing societies enrolling the most voters will get cash prizes upto Rs 10,000. The initiative has also been extended to colleges that conduct programmes to maximise voter registration in the city.
Citizens have to enrol themselves with the corporation’s ongoing voter registration drive that began on September 15 and will end on October 14. The drive is being conducted for the municipal elections to be held between February and March 2017.
Sanjay Deshmukh, additional municipal commissioner, said, “We want to increase the number of voters in the city, for which we are giving these incentives. We have appealed to about 40,000 housing societies to encourage residents to register.”
Another official said, “A lot of colleges also conduct drives to enrol voters. We will also recognise their efforts with a cash prize. We will also give away prizes to the electorate registration officer who does a commendable job.”
Currently, 67% of the city’s population (around 91 lakh people) are registered as voters. The corporation has appealed to registered voters to check their enrolment. Citizens who wish to change their name, gender or address on the voter card can also do so before October 14. For this, residents can approach their nearest electoral registration office or ward office to fill in forms. They can also download the form from www.ceo.maharashtra.gov.in or call on toll-free numbers 1800221950 /1950 for further details.
Citizens who turn 18 before January 1, 2017 can also register themselves now, officials said. On October 3, the municipal corporation will be conducting a lottery to declare the wards reserved for women, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and the other backward castes. Currently, there are 227 electoral wards in the city.