First-timers rush in to register for voter cards

Elsewhere at Lady Brabourne College,Bethune and Jadavpur University,where the one-day camp was organized,students responded with enthusiasm to the initiative,with many coming forward to enlist their names in the EC’s voters list.

At the Presidency College,Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal Debasish Sen attended the camp. “I thought young voters in Bengal are aware,but now I see many of them have not registered with the EC voters’ list. This is a very good initiative,” he said. Sen spoke to students and volunteers to get an overview of the entire process.

With the young voters comprising more than 30 per cent of India’s electorate,The Indian Express,in collaboration with Janaagraha,today held voter registration camps in four colleges across Kolkata — titled ‘I-Count’.

A Janaagraha survey carried out earlier,only six per cent of the youth voters in the country actually vote.

The entire registration process at the I-Count camp was made simpler as students could register online and submit necessary documents like age and address proof to the volunteers in the college itself for enrolment.

“This is a very good initiative. We find the whole (existing) process of getting a voter I-card very cumbersome,” said Bodhiparna Raha,a first-year student at the Presidency College.

The response in Bethune and Jadavpur was also encouraging. At Jadavpur University,students scrambled for getting themselves registered as voters.

“It appears to be very helpful to us. I am a resident of Purulia and I was supposed to go there for getting registered in the voters’ list. Now,I can get my card here only and need not go to Purulia,” said Prasenjit Baral,a student of chemical engineering department (JU).

The camp at the Lady Brabourne College also got a good response. “We appreciate the initiative. It’s a good idea. But one would require more time to make it a total success and the exercise more comprehensive,” said Sanghamitra Mukherjee,principal,Lady Brabourne College.