Ensuring voter participation in the polls
he Kudumbashree is assisting the SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) team of the Collectorates in some districts to spread awareness of voter participation in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
SVEEP is being implemented to ensure that maximum number of voters exercise their right to vote.
In Kasaragod district, the Kudumbashree conducted an election grama sabha centred on polling centres so that voters could ensure that their name was on the voters’ list while the names of those who were not alive could be removed from it, Kudumbashree Kasaragod district mission coordinator Surendran T.T. who is the nodal officer, SVEEP, for the district, said.
To improve electoral roll inclusion among 18yearold youth, SVEEP awareness was created on all college campuses. Students were gathered together on campuses and interactions held with them on the electoral process, democracy, its history, and its systems. The students were introduced to voting machines and the Voter Helpline App where they could submit forms for voter registration and make modifications too. Programmes such as quiz on democracy and elections were held to engage with the youth about the electoral process.
Activities to reach out to voters in Scheduled Caste colonies, Scheduled Tribe hamlets, and coastal areas where the voter turnout is usually lesser than the State average were also held. As Kasaragod has the second largest tribal population in the district, voters were mobilised through neighbourhood groups and ST animators who are Kudumbashree volunteers.
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