BENGALURU: Members of residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) of Bengaluru’s east said the voting awareness campaigns should have picked up pace months in advance and not just a month ahead of polls.
District election officer and BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath, during an interaction organised by the Palike, said that they were alerted only a month or two prior to elections.
Highlighting the election-related issue Polls during the meeting, Chitra Venkatesh, Kumara Park West, RWA, said that the number of voters has reduced as hordes have migrated to other cities. Steps must be taken to enrol them to ensure their participation.
Another RWA member said the issues of deletion of names from voters list and distribution of freebies must be looked into to ensure a free and fair election. Specially-abled and elderly must be provided with facilities and separate queues must be arranged at polling booths so that voting does not become an onerous task for them. Shamianas, chairs and toilet facilities should be provided for them, it was suggested. They also said that BBMP and RWAs should work together in creating awareness, setting up camps for voter ID registration, and even raise relevant citizen-related issues for the government.
During ward meetings, no serious issues are discussed, another RWA member said, adding that even election-related matters are not on agenda. Gearing up when the countdown has started for the elections will not help improve voter participation, they said. Girinath urged all RWA members to create awareness about the importance of voting rights and ensure maximum voters come out. He said that all eligible voters should download the voter helpline and C-Vigil app to access any poll-related information and raise complaints.
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A 24x7 operational District Complaint Monitoring Cell (DCMC) has been set up at BBMP head office where citizens can file complaints over corrupt practices, violation of the model code of conduct and other offences. The public can submit complaints on the free helpline number -1950, National Grievances Redressal System and cVIGIL.