Kannur aims to be India’s first district with all college students registered as voters

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Making youth participate in democratic fest

“When we launched this enrolment drive among college students, we set ourselves an aim — every student of voting age must have an electoral ID card,” Kannur Assistant Collector Anup Garg told South First.

A poster encouraging students to be part of the historic move. (Supplied)

Garg, who is also the District Nodal Officer of SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation), has the support of District Collector Arun K Vijayan to execute the enrolment drive.

SVEEP is a programme of the Election Commission (EC) for voter education, spreading voter awareness, and promoting voter literacy in India.

Garg said engaging young people in voting and making them part of the democratic process would solve many problems in the long term.

“In a vast and diverse population like ours, ensuring that the youth understand democracy and elections is essential for the country’s democratic sustainability, social cohesion, and progress,” he explained.

“My understanding is that making the youth aware of the electoral process will instill a sense of civic responsibility in them. It will also make them informed and responsible citizens,” the IAS officer added.

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A focused approach

With the EC itself spearheading various programmes to bring the youth, including first-time voters, to polling booths, what makes the Kannur initiative distinct?

Garg said it was the focused attention. “Compared with others, we are ensuring that every student of voting age has registered for a voter ID card,” he said.

The official further said that the district’s 105 colleges have joined hands with the Kannur district administration to make the drive a success. More than 60 colleges have registered all their students of voting age.

It has been learnt that the enrolment drive was being carried out at the college level thus ensuring that each student has registered for an electoral ID card. To help them, an 11-member team along with interns, who are part of the District Collector Internship Programme, has been constituted.

Garg said voting registration is voluntary and could not be carried out with coercion. It was being done through reasoning.

“If one college informs that a student had not enrolled, we call the student and try to understand why he/she had not done so. Through reasoning and awareness, we try to enroll him/her. So far, it is successful,” Garg said.

Why don’t youths want to register?

The official said that many students were apprehensive of bogus voting. Many of them were not sure if the leader they chose would serve them.

“We usually clear such apprehensions through one-on-one meetings or group sessions. Here they can clear their doubts regarding the election process,” Garg said.

In the case of bogus voting, the EC has measures such as webcasting and VVPAT, to ensure a free and fair election.

“Regarding leaders, we told youngsters that as they are the guardians of democracy, and they can hold the leaders accountable. But for that the young generation must know democratic values, institutions, and practices,” he added.