Whatever Works

Leading from the front is Janaagraha,an organization based out of Bangalore which has pioneered the Jaago Re campaign. “We have been working on urban governance reforms form around 2001. Our campaign which helps people register online for voting was but a natural progression,” says Suman Ramachandran,outreach coordinator of the campaign. “The rural youth is quite politically aware compared to the city youngsters. Our aim was to get the latter to contribute to the voting process,” says Ramachandran. A feeling echoed by Mehta of Bindaas. The local youth channel of UTV launched the I-Change,India Changes campaign,a few months back,almost as a reaction to 26/11 and the political mudslinging that followed. “We have tied up with NGOs who have done a considerable amount of groundwork in fields of education,health etc,” says Mehta. And apart from TV shows,discussions etc,the channel has come up with the Bindaas Campus Theatre contest which has gone to 50 colleges in six metros asking students to come up with short plays with the elections as subject.

The wave of awareness campaigns has adopted the same cool quotient that has held urban youngsters back from voting all these days. While Channel V is abuzz with cheeky promos with the popular VJs asking us to make choices,Bindaas has John Abraham promoting and designing the Ungli Uthao campaign.

“Vote or Vaat is an effort to espouse issues that are not fashionable to promote,issues like eve teasing,” says Saurabh Kanwar,creative head,Channel V. John Abraham,on the other hand,was roped in by Bindaas because of his tempered middle class values. “In fact,John had designed quite a bit of the campaign himself,” says Mehta.

Simplification of the voting procedure figures high on the list of priorities of these campaigns. “We wanted to dispel myths about voting. Like most youngsters think they can’t vote if they don’t have a Voter ID,where as you just need to register with your constituency to vote. The V [IQ with Lola Kutty also takes you through voting trivia,” says Kanwar.

The Jaago Re website helps people to locate their constituency,register online and get a Voter ID card done. “We also provide detailed information on the candidates in most constituencies so that a voter can make an informed choice,” says Ramachandran. The city based organization Prantokotha,helped implement Jaago Re in Kolkata by tying up with colleges like Presidency College,Jadavpur University,Bethune College etc,which are among the 172 colleges that Janaagraha tied up with across India. “Usually youngsters have an inclination towards voting the party their forefathers have. We are not taking a stand but urging them to think and vote by giving them details about the candidates,” says Bappaditya Mukherjee of the organisation.

Jaago Re has more than 4.5 lakh voters registering with it. We hope the numbers translate into the change we want the country to see.