MUKESH RANJAN
RANCHI: In a proactive move, the Jharkhand Government has roped in the Education Department to include school students in the voter list. Spearheaded by Chief Electoral Officer K. Ravi Kumar, the initiative aims to engage students in 11th and 12th grade, aged between 17 and 18, to sign up as prospective voters, reports The New Indian Express.
The successful implementation of this model could lead to a substantial increase in the number of new voters participating in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
This endeavour, facilitated by e-Vidya Vahini, aims to identify and register eligible young voters among students aged 17 to 18, who are currently in the 11th and 12th grades. Their pre-filled Form-6, which is required for voter registration, is being completed in advance.
Using the e-Vidya Vahini portal, the campaign has successfully identified and marked 9.4 lakh potential voters across various districts, which have been sent to the district election officers.
“Though the programme is being conducted all over the Country, Jharkhand is the only state which is doing it in coordination with the education department,” said Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar. If this model proves to be successful, it has the potential to engage millions of new voters in future Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections, he added.
“This campaign focuses on two categories of students: those who will turn 18 years of age on January 1, 2024, and those who will attain this milestone on or before October 1, 2024,” said Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar.
The initiative holds the potential to engage a significant number of young individuals in the democratic process and empower them with the ability to cast their votes, he added. Officials have appealed to all individuals involved to put in their best efforts to ensure that the youth voters’ awareness is created and that no voter is left behind.
To ensure the seamless execution of this campaign, the Chief Electoral Officer conducted a virtual meeting recently with district-level officers from both the Education Department and the Election Department. Officials were directed to establish strong coordination and conduct an intensive campaign, streamlining all necessary procedures for submitting the advance forms of prospective voters throughout the state.
The campaign is currently being run only for the students affiliated with the Jharkhand Academic Council, but students of other educational boards including CBSE and ICSE are also to be included in this campaign very soon.
