Officials already deployed to Pune, Mumbai
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Apr 11: In a bid to ensure that Kashmiri migrants participate in democratic process and cast their votes in coming elections, the Government has constituted teams to ensure that displaced people from Valley putting up at Jammu and other parts of the country are enrolled as bonafide voters of Kashmir.
According to official sources, the teams of the Relief and Rehabilitation Organization have already been dispatched to outside Valley and they have visited Mumbai, Pune, Chandigarh and tomorrow the team is visiting Bangalore in Karnataka and Ahmedabad in Gujarat where the Kashmiri migrants are putting up to get them enrolled as voters in Valley and ensure that they will vote in coming Assembly and Parliamentary elections from their respective constituencies in Kashmir.
Sources said, this is for the first time in last over 30 years after the mass exodus of Kashmir Pandits from Valley that the Government has made a serious effort to ensure that the displaced people take part in democratic process positively.
Sources said, that the process has been started on April 5 and it will culminate on April 20. The Relief and Rehabilitation Organization teams will visit Delhi NCR from April 15 to April 20 for enrolment of migrants putting up there, sources added.
The process has already been started in Jammu region and Relief Organization teams will visit door to door in the areas where Kashmir migrants are putting up to ensure that they are enrolled as voters, sources said. Total 22 teams have been made for Jammu region for the enrollment of migrant voters with staff strength of 50 to 60 officials.
Sources said that Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner, K K Sidha is heading the team which visited Pune and Mumbai in Maharashtra and he will visit Bangalore tomorrow.
The Government is making all efforts to motivate the Kashmiri migrants putting up in other States of country to get themselves enrolled as voters in Valley their ancestral place and ensure that the democratic process in the trouble torn Kashmir is strengthened, sources said.
Sources said the main objective of the process initiated by Relief and Rehabilitation Department is to ensure maximum awareness and facilitation of Kashmiri migrants in electoral rolls of their constituencies of their original residence in Valley.
Sources said besides 22 teams two more special teams have been constituted where in 16 officers, 56 officials and 50 casual laborers have been engaged under the supervision of Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (M).
Sources said for Zonal Areas Awareness all the officers and officials of 22 zones have been declared as BLOs and have been assigned the task of conducting door to door awareness programme and enrollment of Kashmiri migrants in electoral rolls. The entire Special Summary Revision campaign is being monitored under supervision of Chief Electoral Officer, J&K, P K Pole, sources added.
Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO), Kashmiri Migrants, Riyaz Ahmed told Excelsior that the intention of the Government is that the Kashmiri migrants should actively participate in democratic process and exercise their right to franchise from the constituencies they belonged in Kashmir. He said in case the community enmass participates in the voting in coming elections they can also be deciding factor in various constituencies.
AERO said that at present there are 1,20,000 migrant voters with Relief Organization and the Department is motivating them to cast their vote in Kashmir.
The Department for motivation of migrant voters to cast their vote and take active part in democratic process of the country has also made video clippings informing the people about the power of vote. It says that the Kashmiri migrants who had to leave Valley due to turmoil over 30 years back could not take active part in democratic process.
The clippings are in both Hindi and English which says that the Kashmiri Pandits are the aborigines of Valley and worshipers of Mata Sharda, Lord Shiva and Shakti and the Kashmir is incomplete without them. To fulfill the gap created by their displacement the Kashmiri migrants should participate in the democratic process and cast their vote.
Through these clippings, the migrant voters attaining age of 18 are asked to fill up their enrolment forms. Moreover, those migrants who are above 18 years and have not registered themselves as migrant voters have also been asked to fill up the enrolment forms and ensure that they cast their vote in coming elections being the responsible citizens of the country.
Terming it a great step towards granting of democratic right to Kashmir Pandits, BJP spokesperson and ex MLC, Ajay Bharti said that this has been done for the first time as present Government is committed to ensure welfare of the Displaced Pandits and right to vote being the first and foremost right of any citizens in a democratic country, the BJP Government led by Narendra Modi has taken a drastic step in this regard.
He, however, said that the teams deployed for enrolment outside J&K have been sent without taking the community leadership in those cities in consideration. He said as Karnataka is going to polls and people are busy in election activities it was not proper time to send team there at this juncture.
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