Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 25: The 6th National Voters Day with the theme ‘Inclusive and Qualitative Electoral Participation’ was celebrated with enthusiasm in over 4000 functions organised across the State.
The State level function was organised by the Chief Electoral Office, J&K at the Police Auditorium Jammu in which large number of people including newly registered voters and students participated.
Chairman, J&K Special Tribunal, Pramod K Jain was the chief guest and Principal Secretary, Forest, Ecology & Environment; R K Gupta was the guest of honour on the occasion.
Chief Electoral Officer, J&K, Shantmanu, Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Simrandeep Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, Dr Shahid Iqbal, VC, JDA, Mubarak Singh, senior officers from civil administration, Police and State Election Department besides senior citizens and large number of young boys and girls were also present.
Speaking on the occasion, Promod K Jain said that over the years the electoral process in the country has evolved substantially and new initiatives have led to massive increase in the participation of citizens in elections and every segment of society is being touched. He complimented the State Election Department for having achieved greater enrolment of new voters and bringing the enthusiastic young generation into the ambit of election process.
R K Gupta said that with each new election, the voting percentage is increasing and efforts of the Election Commission of India and State Election Department in this regard are highly appreciable. He credited greater awareness among the citizens and weeding out of duplications and deletions in electoral rolls as prime factors in increased voting percentages.
Chief Electoral Officer, J&K, Shantmanu said that following the recently concluded summary revision of electoral rolls, as many as 1.73 lakh new voters have been added to the voter list in the State. Out of this, he said, 60% being women, has helped the electoral Sex Ratio to improve from 902 to 908 in Jammu and Kashmir. He said, “we have also deleted nearly 1.15 lakh names from the voter list and done over 81000 modifications. He appreciated the efforts of his team at the Election Department including DEOs, ROs, AROs, BLOs and others involved in the process.
He said the State Election Department is committed in its endeavour to see further increase in the participation of citizens in the election process. He said lot of work needs to be done to achieve the bench mark of 90% voting percentage as envisioned by former President of India, Dr A P J Kalam for further strengthening the democratic system in the country.
Elector Photo Identity Cards (EPIC) were distributed among boys and girls who had attained the age of 18 years, thus becoming eligible for their right to vote and participate in the democratic process.
Girl students from Women College Gandhi Nagar/Parade and Science College, Jammu presented very insightful skits highlighting the importance of casting vote towards ensuring that best leaders are put in position of power and responsibility.
Mementos and certificates were also distributed to appreciate the contribution of officers, organizations, institutions and students in the election process and in bringing about greater awareness regarding participation and right to vote.
Among the awardees was Balvinder Singh, Head J&K Election Watch as member of ADR and National Election Watch. He was given State Award for generating awareness among the people through various workshops and by supporting “Wake Up Jammu” campaign.
Earlier, welcome address was presented by Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, J&K Raman K Kesar and keynote address was presented by Deputy Chief Electoral Officer, J&K, Rishpal Singh. Deputy Commissioner, Jammu Simrandeep Singh presented the vote of thanks.
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