MP’s Ujjain administration takes unique approaches to encourage voter participation

Ujjain: In a bid to enhance voter participation in the Lok Sabha polls scheduled on May 13, the Ujjain district administration of Madhya Pradesh has introduced several innovative ideas with the partnering of school students, social media influencers, media persons etc.Talking to Millennium Post, the district collector, Neeraj Kumar Singh, who is a 2012 batch IAS officer of the MP cadre and known for his innovative approaches said that the administration has taken several initiatives and introduced various strategies to foster voter awareness with the help of social participation under the SVEEP (systematic voter’s education and electoral participation) activities.

“As part of the initiatives, we have planned to send school students in small groups to their parents a day before the voting. They will convince their parents about franchises and request to cast a vote. Earlier, a phase of this initiative has been completed,” collector Singh said. The students have been educated about the significance of voting rights by their class teachers using WhatsApp groups across the district.

“Keeping in mind Akshay Tritiya which is scheduled on May 10, the day when large numbers of weddings are witnessed, information has been collected about the marriage ceremonies. We have asked panchayat secretaries to visit the events in their respective panchayats to encourage the gathering for voting through various campaigns,” Neeraj Kumar Singh, who has been collector of Damoh, Rajgarh and Narmadapuram districts before Ujjain also said. Apart from these activities, the administration has made several efforts for voter participation awareness and encouraged them to cast their franchises, he said. As an initiative, collector Singh held a meeting with the social media influencers, media persons, heads of society and NGOs of the district and appealed to them to come forward to encourage people to vote. The collector along with the divisional Commissioner, IGP, DGP and SP have taken part in the bicycle rallies held to encourage voters. Under SVEEP, various activities are being run in the district such as the formation of electoral literacy clubs in colleges, and women’s meetings at Anganwadi centres where activities like Mehdi competition, singing songs and Kalas processions have been organised.

The administration has also conducted other activities to ensure a record voter turnout like poster-making completion, organising street plays, setting up air blloons, wall writing, hanging banners, signature campaign, setting up selfie points, rangoli creation competition, getting filled voter oathing forms, organising activities at religious places, activities

On asking about the target of the voter turnout in the upcoming election, he said that the administration had set it to cross the previous record of 75.43 per cent and efforts are underway to touch the 80 per cent mark. The Ujjain parliamentary seat is reserved for Scheduled Caste and the home turf of MP Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav, it comprises eight Assembly segments Nagda-Khachrod, Mahidpur, Ghatiya, Tarana, Ujjain North, Ujjain South and Badnagar of the Ujjain district and Alot of Ratlam district.

Ujjain is an ancient city and a major Hindu pilgrim destination. One of the 12 Jyotirlingas Mahakaleshwar is located in the middle of the city. Around 1.5 lakh footfall is witnessed every day to visit the temple.