Hailakandi administration woos women voters through unique ways

GUWAHATI: In a bid to remove fears of mothers from polio vaccine and to familiarise them with EVM/VVPAT, the Hailakandi district administration headed by Keerthi Jalli made a whirlwind tour crisscrossing hilly and inhospitable terrain of the district on Tuesday.
With officials in tow, Deputy Commissioner cum Returning Officer, Jalli trudged along for several kilometers to motivate the women voters living in hilly and inaccessible terrain to dispel their fears of using EVMs and VVPATs. “As most womenfolk do not know how to operate the voting machines with some seeing them for the first time, they were guided through by election officials, ” said Jalli.
The Deputy Commissioner accompanied by SVEEP Cell incharge officer Tridip Roy and his team together with DPM, DME, NHM, BPM, Katlicherra and doctors visited door-to-door Khasi houses in Lalpani under Katlicherra revenue circle. Sanitation pads were also distributed at nominal cost to improve awareness of hygiene and inspire the women voters to come out in large numbers to cast their votes in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections slated for April 18 under 1 HPC Karimganj.
Deputy Commissioner Jalli took the opportunity to administer pulse polio to some children.
The district administration has taken up a slew of measures to enhance the voters’ turnout with focus on interior and far flung areas that recorded low percentage of polling in the last Assembly elections. Under SVEEP, a lot of activities have been taken up like staging street plays, songs, quiz/ painting competitions, awareness campaigns, holding mock polling exercise at model polling stations, bringing out rallies, pamphlets and posters to motivate voters ahead of the elections. Deputy Commissioner, who is spearheading the awareness campaign under the three LACs of Hailakandi, Algapur and Katlicherra, has decided to send a letter appealing the voters to cast their franchise in a big way to assert their democratic right with the slogan: “I pledge to vote for it’s my democratic right’.
Polling will be held in altogether 656 polling stations. The total number of electorate is 4,74,249.
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