The voter awareness drives as part of SVEEP shifted to the premier research institutions in Mysuru from roadside campaigns. A SVEEP campaign was held for the staff of CSIR-CFTRI in Mysuru on Friday where they were sensitised on the importance of voting in view of Lok Sabha elections on April 26.
After administering a voting pledge, Zilla Panchayat CEO and SVEEP Nodal Officer K.M. Gayathri said the educated voters must come and vote in large numbers in view of complaints that the people in cities do not vote.
The voting process has been made easy and the voting percentage among the government employees is falling. “If all of you vote without giving it a miss, it will help in building a stronger nation,” she felt.
Speaking on the occasion, CSIR-CFTRI Director Sridevi Annapurna Singh advised the staff not to miss voting on the pretext that the polling booth is far from their homes. “We need to demonstrate by ensuring a good percentage of voting in the coming elections by not missing a vote. We need to fulfil our responsibility by voting.”
The voter participation in last year’s Assembly election in the three urban constituencies in Mysuru was depressing as the voter turnout was poor despite multiple campaigns, initiatives and activities carried out under SVEEP for increasing the voting percentage. Urban voters displayed their apathy, not stepping out of their homes to vote. Nearly 40 per cent of voters in the three constituencies did not vote contrary to the enthusiasm shown to the festival of democracy in rural Mysuru which was overwhelming.
The voter turnout in Krishnaraja was 59.55 per cent while Chamaraja and Narasimharaja recorded 61.05 per cent and 63.61 per cent voting respectively during elections last year despite voter awareness campaigns. There has been no significant improvement in the participation of voters in elections with the turnout remaining discouraging.
In view of this, the district administration and SVEEP committee has been organising voter awareness drives this election to bring voters to the booths. The task before the officers is to identify the booths that reported poor turnout and take up SVEEP drives in a proactive way.
