M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Nov 22: Jharkhand State Chief Electoral Officer K Ravi Kumar today made a passionate appeal for setting up Electoral Literacy Clubs in educational institutions as he said more than 12.79 lakh youths in the age group of 18 to 19 are not in the electoral rolls here.
Nilamber Pitamber University had organised this session for the state chief electoral officer in collaboration with the state technical, higher education department of which deputy director Vibha Pandey had accompanied the state chief electoral officer in a cozy hall of the YSNM college Daltonganj under the supervision of Dr Mohini Gupta professor in charge.
NPU Registrar Dr Rakesh Kumar in his welcome address made a down-to-earth remark about the percentage of voting higher in the rural areas than the percentage of voting in the urban area thus triggering a live discussion on the causes of it which K Ravi Kumar took it for good length to explain.
The state chief electoral officer made it clear that students having political affiliations will be free to join the electoral literacy club but can’t be members of its executive committee.
He said the higher education department is mooting to have one more column for the Epic number (read voter id card number) along with the column for the Aadhar card in the admission form etc as then youths at the time of the admission will ensure they are enrolled in the electoral rolls.
He asked boys and girls to apply in advance for enrolment as voters even when they are just 17 and above only can apply for registration on becoming 18. There is no need to wait for the attainment to 18 years of age for applying for registration for the electoral rolls.
The state chief electoral officer also explained that there can’t be one nation one voter card on the pattern of one nation one ration card describing many of the intrinsic problems involved in this. He cited a plethora of reasons ofr youths in lakhs still out of the electoral rolls like migration, lack of will and motivation, the improper mindset where there is the case of the married girl etc.
The NPU registrar also wanted to know whether there is any provision for 80 plus elderly people to have their voting right at their place of dwelling to which the state chief electoral officer said the Election Commission of India has accorded voting from home for 80 and plus people having the status of the PwD (person with a disability) only.
The crux of the visit of the state chief electoral officer was to promote a sense of attachment among the eligible youths or youths having 17 years of age to the electoral rolls but the ground reality presented a kind of chronic apathy towards this.
K Ravi Kumar said this was his second visit here in the YSNM college Daltonganj in two years and acknowledged the cooperation of the professor in charge Dr Mohini Gupta.
It is not the 12.79 lakh of youths in the age group of 18 to 19 who are out of the electoral rolls the 60 plus people numbering 2.57 lakhs too are out of the electoral rolls in Jharkhand.
This correspondent asked the officer if he would say something about the apathy of the MLAs, MPs etc who never pitch among the youth to get enlisted in the voters’ list saying “No. No. I will not make any comment on it.”
The state chief electoral officer conceded “Where even 50 names get deleted from the electoral rolls, it becomes headlines. Deletion hits while inclusion is sidelined by the person concerned.”
K Ravi Kumar taking a departure said “Tongues are wagged about the EVM but I tell you EVMs are tamper-proof. Nobody has any problem with it if he or she wins but too many imaginary things are said about the EVM on getting defeated at the hustings.”
The modest gathering hailed the deputy director state higher education department, Dr Vibha Pandey, in the YSNM college Daltonganj today on her arrival as part of the state chief electoral team since she used to teach here in this YSNM college Daltonganj before joining the deputy director of the higher education department in Ranchi.
The vote of thanks was given by the principal of JS college Daltonganj Dr R P Singh. Dr I J Khalkho, Dr Bimal Kumar Singh and others were also present on the occasion.
