Governor, Droupadi Murmu today called upon people of the State, especially the urban residents to use their universal adult franchise in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The Governor was speaking during the State level programme organised on the occasion of 9th National Voters Day here in the State Capital.
Emphasising on the National Voters Day theme 2019 -- ‘No Voter to be left behind’, the Governor said, “It is very disheartening to see low urban voters’ turnout during the polls. Often those residing in big towns hardly register their presence during elections. The trend must be changed. On the contrary, the participation of rural populace during elections has shown a massive increase, depicting that the government’s schemes are reaching there.”
“Voting rights being one of the fundamental rights must be used by one and all as it a primary tool in the decision making process. Also, one must acknowledge the role of Election Commission of India (ECI) including the State Election Commission (SEC) in spreading the words about the importance of election in a democratic nation. By conducting a series of activities beginning from rectification of voter lists to organising awareness drives, the Commission is doing a commendable job,” the Governor added.
Chief Electoral Officer, L. Khiangte announced that the final rectified voters’ list will be released on January 30, 2019. “As per the data, 2,19,81,479 voters are found to be eligible to cast their votes. The data covers 57.85 per cent of the total population of Jharkhand. As per the bifurcation, the State has 1,15,07,697 male voters’ while the total strength of female electors are 1,04,73,475 here. As many as 307 transgender are registered in the voters’ list. In addition, the number of million voters has increased significantly. At present, there are 1,01,606 young voters - million voters in the age group 18-19 years in Jharkhand,” stated Khiangte.
Further sharing the details of the initiatives taken up at the State level to link the eligible voters in electoral roll, Khiangte said, “Through Voters Awareness Forums (VAFs), establishment of Electoral Literacy Club at 1,246 high schools, 141 colleges and universities across the State, creation of ‘Chunav Pathshala’ at 7,202 polling booths, introduction of android based mobile app -- CVIGIL to deal with the citizens’ grievances, launch of VVIP & DDC programme to rectify the voter lists of eminent persons, the Commission is trying to ensure the participation of each individual in the elections.”
The other dignitaries present appealed to the citizens to strengthen the democratic setup and have equal say in the policy making. Ranchi DC asserted that Jharkhand is the first State in the country where the ECI team will come for inspection to verify the arrangements being ensured ahead of the two elections. The visit is slated on January 30.
The event saw the participation of State Election Commissioner NN Pandey, Ranchi University (RU) – VC, Dr. Ramesh Kumar Pandey, Ranchi DC Rai Mahimapat Ray, Subra Verma - Divisional Commissioner- South Chotanagpur division, District Election Officer Geeta Choubey including others.