CHENNAI : School children may not be eligible to cast their votes but they are the best bet for spreading awareness to ensure polling percentage goes up significantly when the State is set to cast its vote in the next one week, said Nalinakumari, Assistant Education Officer and Assistant Nodal Officer, Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation programme.
The official, who was earlier working as a teacher, has the task cut out to ensure 100 per cent polling and has been ensuring it with the tie-up with The New Indian Express voter awareness campaign, which was launched in North Chennai at Smt Durgadevi Choudhary Vivekananda Vidyalaya in Kolathur on Thursday.
Administering the oath to 700 children on the principles of voting, Nalina doles out the campaign material as her team of school teachers join her in the rally in the neighbourhood.
J Thanukrishnan, principal of the school, says the children will urge the neighbours and their parents to vote on April 18. Twenty-five years ago, the entire locality was full of empty plots. But now the entire area has been developed and the school has gained prominence in North Chennai, he says.Interestingly, many of the students are not aware about the voting process as parents have never taken them to show the voting process. “I saw the voting exercise when I was four years old,” recalls Iniya, a tenth standard student.
The physical trainer of the school, Shakunthala, suggests that the school should conduct mock voting exercise to make children aware about the value of their vote. Triveni, another teacher, feels sad that in India, there is now a need to spread awareness on voting. “It is sad that people are not aware of their rights.”
Nalinakumari says that through SVEEP, she has been spreading awareness through voters pledge, signature campaign, street rally and also through ‘villupattu’ while introducing M Sivagnanam, a music teacher of a corporation school in North Chennai.Sivagnanam has been using his senior students to spread the awareness about voting. In the last assembly elections, Chennai district had recorded 60 per cent polling and this time through awareness, officials are hoping to have a better show.