Monday, June 23, 2014

Request Your Support to Circulate Voter Registration Process within your Organisation to all Employees/ Peers under Corporate Social Responsibility.

Request Your Support to Circulate Voter Registration Process within your Organisation to all Employees/ Peers  under Corporate Social Responsibility.
***Employers & Employees are tax payers to Government , and hence each one bears a moral responsibility tobe  Registered Voter of India  & Cast his/ her Vote in Government Elections***

2014 General Election , we came across many citizens who lost the opportunity to cast their vote & were left dejected seeing others voting & they being deprived from their Voting Right.

The reason for not getting to vote may be different for each, ex/-
1. Voter ID card available  , but name missing from Voter list
2. Citizens unaware of the Voter process registration
3. Citizens unaware of the Election offices close to their residential area where they would go & submit their Voter Registration form.

The bottom line is that every citizen who missed to vote due to some or the other technical reason, can now make a effort to get the corrections done.

MAHARASHTRA STATE LEGISLATIVE  ASSEMBLY ELECTION is due in October 2014 , and each one of you residing in Maharashtra can now have a chance immediately to get his/her Voter Registration completed & cast your valuable Vote to select appropriate candidate for representation in Maharashtra elections.


Voter Registration Process: (Started from 1st June 2014)

Step1 : Form to-be filled as per relevancy : (Forms are Downloadable Online).
Form- 6   : Application for inclusion of name in Electoral Roll  (https://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in/Downloads/FORM-6.pdf)        
Form- 7   : Application for objecting inclusion or seeking deletion of name in Electoral Roll (https://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in/Downloads/FORM-7.pdf)
Form- 8   : Application for correction to particulars entered in Electoral Roll                        (https://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in/Downloads/FORM-8.pdf)
Form- 8A : Application for transposition ( Transfer of Address )of entry in Electoral Roll      (https://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in/Downloads/FORM-8A.pdf)
Form 18  : Claim for inclusion of name in the electoral roll for a Graduates' Constituency (https://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in/Downloads/Form_18.pdf) / https://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in/Downloads/Form_18_En.pdf)
Form 19  : Claim for inclusion of name in the electoral roll for a Teachers' Constituency   (https://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in/Downloads/Form_19.pdf) / (https://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in/Downloads/Form_19_En.pdf)
Step 2:
Attach Supporting Documents ( Proof  of Age & Residence Proof ) along with  2 recent photographs ( passport size)
* Photo copy of proof tobe Attested & then submitted.
* If  photo copies are unattested, please carry Original Documents  for validation along with photo copies. These documents will be verified by election office & then accepted .

List of Documents required for Proof of Age Document :
i) Birth certificate issued by a Municipal Authorities or district office of the Registrar of Births & Deaths or Baptism certificate; or
ii) Birth certificate from the school (Govt. / Recognised) last attended by the applicant or any other recognised educational institution; or
iii) If a person is class 10 or more pass, he should give a copy of the mark-sheet of class 10 , if it contains date of birth as a proof of date of birth; or
iv) Mark-sheet of class 8 if it contains date of birth; or
v) Mark-sheet of class 5 if it contains date of birth; or
vi) A declaration in prescribed format given in Annexure-1 (
http://nadia.nic.in/Forms/Departments/Election/6.PDF) made by either of his parents if the person is not educated till class 10 (In those cases where parental declaration is given as proof of age, the applicant will have to be present himself for verification before BLO/ERO/AERO); or
vii) A certificate of his age given by a sarpanch of the concerned Gram Panchayat or by a member of the concerned Municipal Corporation / Municipal Committee, the person is not educated till class 10 and both the parents are not alive; or
viii) Indian Passport containing date of birth

List of documents required for "Proof of Residence":
You are an ordinary citizen of the constituency if you have been residing in the constituency for 6 months or more. Fill up the full and complete postal address including PIN code where you are ordinarily residing and want to get registered, in the space provided.

Proof of ordinary residence to be attached are as under:
i) Bank / Kisan / Post Office current Pass Book, or
ii) Applicant’s Ration Card / Passport / Driving License / Income Tax Return filed or Assessment Order, or
iii) Latest Water / Telephone / Electricity / Gas Connection Bill for that address, either in the name of the applicant or that of his / her immediate relation like parents etc., or
iv) Postal department’s posts received / delivered in the applicant’s name at the given address.
v) Aadhar Card

Step : 3
Voter Help Center for Submission of Forms - Weblink : 
https://ceo.maharashtra.gov.in/Lists/VHCs.aspx (Scroll down gives option for Districts, click on it , select your districy & check for Election Office nearest to your residence)

Post submission of the relevant form , DO-NOT forget to take Acknowledgement Receipt of form submitted from the Election Officer . This receipt is very important as it will help to follow-up with the Election office in-case, Voter ID does not come in time .

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled condemns Modi for making disrespectful comments about the Differently Abled

4, Ashoka Road, New Delhi 110 001,

April 11, 2014

Press Statement
The National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) strongly condemns the views expressed by Shri Narendra Modi at Jamshedpur yesterday while campaigning for the BJP there.It has been reported that the BJP’s Prime Ministerial aspirant, speaking at an election rally said that "the country does not want a deaf and dumb, handicapped government”. The observations by Mr. Modi reflect a hackneyed mindset that is biased against persons with disabilities. Implicit in Modi’s statement is that persons with disabilities are “handicapped” and unable to discharge any responsibility let alone hold public office.It has now become a habit for Modi to make such remarks. On an earlier occasion, he had called the former Chhattisgarh CM, Shri Ajit Jogi, a wheelchair user, a “cripple”.Patronising terms like “specially-abled”, contained in the BJP’s manifesto, cannot hide the parochial mindset of the BJP, which promotes a model of development that works to the disadvantage of the marginalised. It may be recalled that two years ago the BJP-backed candidate for the President’s office, Shri P.A. Sangma also expressed such insensitivity by stating that “India should have a President, who is not blind, dumb and deaf. India should have a thinking and a functional President.”We would like to remind the BJP leadership that there are any number of persons with disabilities, the blind and the deaf included, who have made sterling contributions in public life. Whatever the provocation, even at the height of a bitter political campaign, usage of such terms to deride political opponents is unpardonable. Such insensitivity and callous remarks made with the intent of deriding your opponents cannot be condoned and go unchallenged. The NPRD lodges its unequivocal protest against these insensitive remarks made by the BJP leader and calls for an unqualified apology from him. It urges upon the Election Commission of India to take suitable action against him for these uncalled for remarks, which are not just an insult but question the intelligence and capabilities of persons with disabilities.

(Muralidharan)
Secretary

Sunday, February 23, 2014

SVEEP - For Making Elections Inclusive

SVEEP - For Making Elections Inclusive

“We, the citizens of India, having abiding faith in democracy, hereby pledge to uphold the democratic traditions of our country and the dignity of free, fair and peaceful elections, and to vote in every election fearlessly and without being influenced by considerations of religion, race, caste, community, language or any inducement”.

- a pledge, which gained popularity among newly eligible voters in India during the past three years, changed the attitude of young India towards elections, thanks to SVEEP (Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral Participation) initiatives by Election Commission of India (ECI).
Being a landmark initiative by ECI, SVEEP has stimulated every aspect of election processes to ensure enhanced voters’ participation in the polling. During the last three years, voter registration, especially among youth, has gone up from 10-15 percent to 30-35 percent and almost all the state assembly elections held since 2010, recorded high voter turnout with greater participation from youth and women.  

BACKGROUND

Voter registration and electorate education are central to the election management process. However, qualitatively and quantitatively voter participation in India is still far from the ideal of participatory democracy. There is lot of gap between what the voters ‘should know’ and what they ‘actually know’ in important areas like registration, Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPIC)/ identity proofs, Polling Station location, use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), timings of the poll, do’s & don’ts with regard to Model Code of Conduct, use of money/ muscle and liquor power by candidates or their associates to influence vulnerable sections of electorate. More so, as has been observed, voter awareness does not always convert into voters actually casting their vote. To achieve the objectives of increasing voter awareness and voter turnout the election commission has taken a major step in the form of Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral participation (SVEEP) programme to inform, educate, motivate and facilitate voters and in turn make Indian democracy more participative and meaningful.

TAKEOFF

With a sense of urgency to highlight the issue of low electoral awareness and low voter turnout issue, ECI chose the theme, “Greater Participation for a Stronger Democracy” for its Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2010. It is in same year the journey of the nation’s biggest voter participation programme - SVEEP - began with Bihar Assembly elections. In simple terms, SVEEP is a range of policy initiatives and activities intend to improve people’s participation in the electoral process. Since then it has been taking up activities to remove gaps in information, motivation and facilitation and in turn increase voter turnout in elections to Legislative Assemblies to many states. There were planned IEC (Information, Education and Communication) interventions in the Jharkhand elections of end-2009 and subsequently carried forward in the form of SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) in Bihar Assembly elections of 2010 and assembly elections of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal and UT of Puducherry in 2011. This continued for the 5 State elections of UP, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur and again in the twin general elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat in 2012 and elections to NE states of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland in early 2013.

REVEALING THE OBSTACLES

Voters’ Behaviour Surveys were carried out as part of SVEEP. These surveys revealed the underlying reasons for under registration, problems in getting duplicate EPIC, correcting names on voter list and various information gaps and low voter turn-out. Moreover, the surveys also try to map the demographics of elector-segments with lower electoral participation.

TARGETED INTERVENTION

It was observed that the youth and women constitute a major part of the people who do not cast their vote. In order to improve participation of all sections of electorate, ECI decided to bridge the gap in information and motivation, and also simultaneously made interventions to make the process of enrolment - easier and convenient and the voting experience - people friendly. ECI also creatively engaged with people to enthuse them to join the electoral process.

IMPLEMENTATION

The Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation Wing formulates policies, lays down the framework, plans interventions and monitors implementation besides carrying out continuous discourse with voting publics, civil society groups and media. SVEEP comprise of a plethora of systematic interventions for Information, Motivation and Facilitation (IMF) measures to involve the people in the electoral process. They broadly include situation analysis, systematic planning and implementation of targeted interventions (on IMF model) based on the situation analysis, mid programme review and monitoring and end term review. The communication interventions include multi-media and inter-personal communication, physical events and innovative activities for mobilization of people/community and voter Facilitation. Realizing the intricacies in bringing out a behavioural change among people, ECI emphasized on social orientation and collaborative approach in the whole process of SVEEP.

Formulation of State and District level SVEEP plans

ECI also initiated some internal organizational changes in the state level and constituted state and district level core groups to coordinate and implement all SVEEP activities. The State Level Plans and District Level Plans are to be formulated for the whole year with intense sub plans for election period. The plans are to be in conformity with national framework, laid out by the Commission, but allowing for due flexibility and credibility at every level.

Collaborations

The Election Commission collaborated with educational institutions and youth organizations like NYKS, NSS, NCC to particularly tap the new voters in the age group of 18-19yrs, promote greater awareness amongst youth and students about electoral process and to seek their assistance in facilitating voter registration. It also collaborated with Central and State Government Departments like the departments of health, education, WCD, Cooperatives, Welfare etc., so that these departments can extend their existing infrastructure and manpower (field functionaries) for electoral education and outreach. Collaboration with Government and private media as well as Civil Society and credible NGOs for increasing people’s awareness regarding electoral participation has also helped in creating voter awareness.

In 2013 ECI signed a MoU with NLMA (National Literacy Mission Authority) after which electoral literacy has become a major component of the Sakshar Bharat Programme of the Government of India. ECI and UNDP also have an MoU in the field of Voter education. Campus Ambassadors have now been introduced (since December 2013) who would be a student in the campus and act as ambassador of the Commission and facilitate the SVEEP programme in the educational campuses. Now even private media houses and Corporates are joining in and extending support in the SVEEP programme of the ECI.

Facilitation as Part of Strategy of SVEEP

SVEEP  initiated new measures relate to  voter facilitation in areas of registration, issuing voter identity cards and suggests ways and means to make the election process voter friendly.  These initiatives include Voters’ Helplines in all districts, searching name in the Voter list through internet and SMS, Voters’ Facilitation Booths, Ideal Polling booths, EVM familarisation camps, Voter Slip, Expanding the I-Card basket i.e., making other identity proofs (apart from EPIC) as a valid proof for voting.

National Voters’ Day

In order to reach out the mass, ECI initiated a practice to celebrate the National Voters’ Day on its foundation day, 25th January, in 2011. It is considered to be a significant step among the various SVEEP initiatives. It is being observed every year with the objective of increasing enrolment of voters to make universal adult suffrage a complete reality. With the aim to give the younger generation a sense of responsible citizenship and to encourage them to exercise their new franchise, ECI felicitates all the newly eligible registered voters in over 8 lakh polling station areas as part of the National Voters’ Day observance. They are handed over their Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) and a badge with the slogan “Proud to be a Voter-Ready to Vote”. They also take an oath to strengthen democracy by taking part in the elections. Since 2011 the National Voters Day is being celebrated with great enthusiasm across the country along with a series of outreach measures like symposiums, cycle rally, human chain, folk arts programmes, mini-marathon, competitions and awareness seminars.

Other measures

Identifying the ability of the popular icons to establish authentic connection with the masses, ECI appointed national and state icons from various fields to boost the awareness programme and motivate the voters. Former Indian President Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, M S Dhoni, Saina Nehwal and M C Mary Kom are the national icons, besides many more celebrities are the state icons and involved in these SVEEP initiatives.   

Table 1: Comparison of polling percentage of the State Assembly elections held after 2010 to the previous ones

Sl. No.
State
Year of Election
Polling Percentage





Male
Female
Total
1
Assam
2006
76.49
74.89
75.77


2011
76.85
74.94
75.92
2
Bihar
2005
-
-
45.85


2010
51.12
54.49
52.67
3
Goa
2007
69.70
70.30
70.51


2012
78.86
84.57
81.73
4
Gujarat
2007
62.31
57.02
59.77


2012
72.94
69.50
71.30
5
Himachal Pradesh
2007
68.36
74.01
71.61


2012
69.39
76.20
72.69
6
Jharkhand
2004
---
---
57.03


2009
59.13
54.53
56.96
7
Karnataka
2008
66.20
63.10
64.68


2013
71.84
70.1
71.00
8
Kerala
2006
73.17
71.08
72.38


2011
75.08
74.78
74.92
9
Manipur
2007
85.88
86.82
86.73


2012
76.94
81.36
79.19
10
Meghalaya
2008
88.62
89.36
88.99


2013
85.17
88.44
86.82
11
Nagaland
2013
89.09
91.33
90.19


2008
85.99
86.39
86.19
12
Punjab
2007
75.36
75.47
75.45


2012
77.58
78.90
78.20
13
Pondicherry
2006
84.48
86.29
86.00


2011
83.97
86.97
85.52
14
Tamil Nadu
2006
72.41
68.75
70.82


2011
77.53
78.51
78.01
15
Tripura
2008
90.74
91.72
91.22


2013
90.73
92.94
91.82
16
Uttar Pradesh
2007
49.35
41.92
45.96


2012
58.68
60.28
59.40
17
Uttarakhand
2007
58.95
59.45
59.45


2012
64.41
68.12
66.17
18
West Bengal
2006
82.34
80.75
81.97


2011
84.22
84.45
84.33
19
Rajasthan
2008
67.10
65.31
66.25


2013
74.92
75.52
75.20
20
Chhattisgarh
2008
71.80
69.20
70.51


2013
77.37
77.21
77.32
21
Delhi
2008
58.34
56.62
57.58


2013
65.98
65.13
65.60
22
Madhya Pradesh
2008
72.30
65.91
69.28


2013
73.95
70.11
72.66
23
Mizoram
2008
78.77
81.24
80.02


2013
80.3
82.2
81.2
Media and non-media units, folk cultural groups, cable networks, marathons, rallies, human chains, exhibition, hoardings, posters, pamphlets, leaflets, cinema slides, street plays, magic shows are utilized with good effect.

ECI has also been getting enthusiastic support of a range of governmental and non-governmental organizations, civil society and media in enlisting citizen’s participation in the electoral process. In some states it has trained a band of volunteers who took the message to the masses.

Information at Your Fingertips!

One of the greatest advancements of the modern day technology is the penetration of internet into our life. Keeping pace with changing time, ECI revived its website to provide all kind of information and services to citizens in a hassle free manner. Social media is being used at district and state level for enhancing voter awareness and increasing voter turnout   increasing polling percentage. Most of the state chief electoral offices own face book pages for reaching out techno-savvy young voters. The facility for online registration of voters is the only system in India where one can get an identity card, i.e., Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) without visiting a government office. The website also provides various other services like ‘changing the demographic details online’, and ‘tracking one’s application online’. The success of this online system is evident from the figures coming from various states; around 40 percent of new voter in Kerala and about 30 percent in Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have obtained the EPIC through this system.


SVEEP in a nutshell

  • Voters’ Behaviour Survey
  • Formulation of State and District level SVEEP plans
  • Personnel for State level
  • State and District level core groups
  • Collaboration with Government departments
  • Collaboration with CSOs, Media and organisations
  • National Voters Day
  • Identification of National and State Icons







The Way Forward

The objective of any voter education programme is to make relevant information available and accessible to public. If the campaign achieves universal coverage of the electorate it will be a great success for democracy. Under the banner of SVEEP, a series of outreach measures like marathons, rallies, processions, quiz competitions, film screening, declamation contests, street play, SMSes and helplines were conducted so far to promote voting. The gaps in the electoral process like youth disconnect, urban apathy and subdued ethical voting campaign are being filled by SVEEP activities while the areas like NRI registration, service voters low participation, migrant voters need more ECI interventions. ECI is constantly engaging to evolve programmes that can explore the in-depth correlation between the strength of an individual’s vote and their empowerment.

By PIB Election Cell team


For information of Past General Elections , Please visit PIB’s website www.pib.nic.in