Students queue up for voter registration drive

Jointly organised by the Shivajinagar constituency Electoral Registration Office and the Garware College administration, the drive will promote young adults to register as voters and build an ecosystem of responsible voting.

An election themed snakes and ladders game was organised in an effort to creatively engage with students about ethical practices of voting.

The do’s of voting like timely registration, updation of address, approaching helplines for authentic information and so on were represented as ladders. Taking bribes to vote or refraining from voting altogether were among the don’ts represented by snakes.

“Students can fill Form 6 and submit it to some college faculty assigned for the task,” said Shobha Karekar, the nodal officer of Garware College. “Once the completed form is submitted along with a photocopy of the Aadhaar card, a passport size photograph and proof of residence, we will send them forward. Within a month or so, students will get their voter IDs by post.”

“As citizens of the country, it is very important to vote,” said 18-year-old Parth. “Most of us in our class have just turned 18. It is much more convenient now that the registration is happening in college itself and we do not have to go anywhere else,” he said.

A flagship program of the Election Commission of India, the campaign is part of the SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) activities, which aim to engage with voters in all 21 constituencies of Pune district. “Our aim is to beat political apathy, especially among the youth and make them part of the democratic process of the country,” said assistant electoral registration officer of Shivajinagar constituency Aparna Tamboli.

“Going by our motto ‘No voter to be left behind’, we have been reaching out to college students as well as people of transgender communities, people of nomadic tribes and other traditionally deprived sections to register themselves as voters,” added the officer.