PRINCE KUMAR
Ranchi, Jan 25: The eve of Republic Day, January 25, is celebrated as National Voters’ Day in India to mark the founding day of the Election Commission (EC) of India.
The day holds significance in India as it is dedicated to raise awareness among the citizens of India on voter rights and duties.
The EC was formed on January 25 in 1950 but the first ever Voters’ Day was celebrated in 2011.
In a meeting chaired by the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in 2011, the Law Ministry’s proposal to observe January 25 as Voters’ Day was approved by the Union Cabinet.
The main objective of National Voters’ Day is to increase voter enrollment and encourage the youth of the nation to exercise their right and duty to vote.
Voters’ day is also the day to celebrate and uphold Indian democracy.
The main purpose behind the day is to engage the younger generation which has crossed 18 but is reluctant to be a part of the nation-building process. The engagement of youth was considerably lower at the beginning of the last decade than what it is now.
In order to inform the youth that it is their turn to be an active part of the electoral process and to get the eligible voters out of their homes so that they can exercise what are their basic rights, the day was started.
Every year the celebration of this special occasion revolves around various dedicated themes.
The theme for this year’s National Voters’ Day is ‘Making Elections Inclusive, Accessible and Participative’.
Hear, hear!! India is ringing in the 12th National Voters’ Day on January 25th.
For ECI each voter matters and in this spirit, our theme for this year is ‘Making Elections Inclusive, Accessible and Participative’. #NationalVotersDay #NVD2022 #ECI #ElectionCommissionOfIndia pic.twitter.com/1vpYdZdeIB— Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) January 22, 2022
This year, the ECI will have a bigger challenge ahead of the assembly elections in five states including the high-profile Uttar Pradesh polls, owing to COVID-19 and Omicron fears.
Moreover, organizing elections in the biggest democracy of the world while keeping all health regulations in mind as first priority would definitely be a daunting task for the ECI.
However, with vaccination drives performing impressively well and youth becoming more vigilant and active, ECI’s task looks tough but possible.
