Voting awareness: District administration reaches out to beachgoers

Mangalore, Apr 29: Even as the state is gearing up for the forthcoming Assembly polls, the district of Dakshina Kannada is keen on exploring all new possibilities to ensure greater voter participation in the polls.

On a warm and humid Sunday evening, the district administration organised a programme at Panambur beach on the outskirts of Mangalore city, to create awareness on voting among the crowds thronging the beach. The programme was arranged by Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project, as part of Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) project.

Amidst games for children and entertainment for the crowd visiting the beach, messages were announced loud and clear encouraging the citizens to exercise their right to vote in the polls.

An exclusive-themed kite on voter awareness was launched on the occasion by DK District Commissioner Harsh Gupta.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that the district showed a good percentage of voter turn-out in previous elections. “It is only in urban areas of Mangalore that the voter turn-out falls behind. This can be increased by exercising your precious votes in a moral way,” he told the people, requesting the general public to cast their vote without being influenced by external immoral factors.

He said that the target of the district administration was to increase the voter turn-out rate from 72 percent to 85 percent. This year, over 60,000 people in the district have received new voter identification cards. Over 15 lakh electorates, who are eligible to vote, have been registered in the revised voter list. A few number of people will be provided with voter slips by Booth Level Officers (BLO) at their houses, who can cast their vote by producing any other photo identification document (such as passport, driving license etc). These voter slips will also be provided outside the polling booths on voting day, he told reporters.

As part of the programme, several adults as well as children gathered at the venue took an oath to actively participate in the electoral process.

CEO of Zilla Panchayat Dr K N Vijayaprakash, commissioner of Mangalore City Corporation K Harish Kumar and CEO of Panambur Beach Tourism Development Project Yathish Baikampady were present on the occasion.