THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, February 27: A character has been evolved for increase in voting percentage. The character is known as Sanskari Master ji.
The character is a conscience keeper who pricks the conscience when right to vote or interest in voting is found missing.
‘Sanskari Master ji’ is a protagonist who, in his worldly hurry, has a voting campaign. This chief personae wearing a common man’s dress is known by his professional Master as he does not wear any name.
This chief protagonist can be compared with noted cartoonist R K Laxman’s Common Man in You Said It, wearing a holed waistcoat and dhoti above the ankle. Laxman’s Common Man was also an emblem of tradition like this Sanskari Master ji.
This Master ji wears spick and span waistcoat. He has his hair dishevelled, unlike Laxman’s Common Man, who was almost bald. He is always in a hurry to tell people that voting is to be done first.
Jharkhand chief electoral officer K Ravi Kumar has sent videos of the Sanskari Master ji here in Daltonganj, where this protagonist reminds people of their sanskar and asks if they have cast a vote and, on hearing about the vote cast, moves forward in all charm and peace.
Here in Palamu, district election officer Shashi Ranjan, DC, is a prototype of this campaigner. Like this chief personae, Masterji, Shashi Ranjan asks people to vote and not to miss voting.
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Speaking to this correspondent, Shashi Ranjan said, “This video aims at inclusive and larger participation in voting. People who by nature or habit are disinclined to vote are to be motivated and encouraged to vote.”
“Local lingo is to be used for maximum voting. There should not be any intellectual tang. Simple and easy to understand appeal for voting will work and yield more results.” reiterated the DC.
The chief personnae, Masterji, has an episode where young voters plan to have a chicken party with the money they will have for their votes from the candidates. These people chant ‘Party Kareyngey, Murga Khayengey’. And money for it will come from the candidates as they have put on sale their votes.
The Masterji asks this youngster to choose between money for votes and country. They soon realize it’s country first.
Wine and chicken come aplenty the night before voting in Palamu. Musclemen of the candidates arrange illicit wine and chicken to induce voters here in Palamu.
The Masterji goes to a mall where a sophisticated woman asks him about the importance of voting. There is a mannequin standing there, too, when the Masterji and this lady are in conversation as if the mannequin is symbolising cold and indifferent voters.
The Masterji is not nervous to tell this lady that people here look wanting in sanskar, but they show it in abundance when it comes to voting.
This correspondent, who accessed four videos of the Sanskari Master ji released by the office of the chief electoral officer Jharkhand, found one thing missing.
The Masterji ought to have been shown walking down in the slum area where voters spend time playing cards, wasting vote rights.
Johar is the refrain of the Masterji, which is at once the symbol of Jharkhand.
Masterji speaks about Divyang voters and how wheelchairs are to be at the polling booths for them. The chief personnae campaigns for the third gender to vote.
Here, DC Shashi Ranjan has directed the officials to care for the Divyang voters. There are only 8 third-gender voters. Its number can be increased by 30 or more if booth-level officers approach them at Kandu Mohalla.
The number of PwD ( person with a disability) voters is 30,500, out of which female PwD voters are 13,165 in Palamu.
The Jharkhand Story correspondent spoke to a cross-section of people who got access to the Sanskari Master ji videos who said, “Naya tareeka k hai. Par zameen par ka tasweer alag h.”
