In Gadchiroli, state turns to tribal volunteers for successful polling

Technology comes to the rescue of democracy in remote Gadchiroli district as the local administration has asked youth in the region to get more voters to the booth and prove it by taking selfies with them There are cash prize incentives for young boys and girls called poll ambassadors who rope in the maximum number of votersThe sefliestaken after a person casts hisher vote will be sent to the collector office and three ambassadors with the most number of selfies will be awarded cash prizes of Rs 10000 Rs 8000 and Rs 7000 These ambassadors have been shortlisted and given special badges for identificationDr Abhay Bang founderdirector of the NGO SEARCH PicsSuresh KKTribal women in the remote Gadchiroli district have begun a movement against alcohol and tobaccofree polling this yearDrAbhay Bang founderdirector of the Society For Education ActionandResearch in Community Health SEARCH based in Gadchiroli said that it is asixyearlong movement againstalcohol in the district that has finally resulted in the state government accepting our demand for the prohibition of liquor in 1993 It was a partial success though he said adding In 2016 SEARCH initiated another campaign calledMuktipathto cut down on alcoholand tobaccoproducts in the district This is in partnership with thestategovernment TATA Trustsandthe locals The campaign has been very active and effective Around600 villages tribal and nontribal have completelybanned alcohol in their villages so farRangoli competition organised by district administration created awareness about conducting alcoholfree pollsPoliticalparty members often distributefree alcohol to buy votes he said This corrupts the democraticprocess and disruptsthealcohol ban in the villages Thus the campaign for an alcoholfree election he added A number of women have resolvedto boycott the candidates that offer alcohol to their husbands Hoardings and posters stating this have been put up across the regionI have received written commitmentsfrom all five candidatesinthe constituency saying they will abide by this That is avictory of the democratic process I have releasedan appeal to socialorganisationselsewhereto initiate such campaignsin their constituencies tooCollector Singh and SP Shailesh Balavade are actively supporting this campaign too saidDrBangPost cards written in four languages Marathi Gondi Madavi Bangla have been distributed to encourage tribal votersOn the elections the community health expert said that despite being a tribal district the issues of tribal development or rights are not prominently raised by the candidates Since 70per centvoters are nontribal the tribals and their interests are neglected even here he ruedDistrict all set for DDayThe Systematic Voters Education Program SVEEP was conducted in the district for the polling officer as well as the tribals Debates were also conducted in various pockets to reconfirm if the concepts were understood NCC and Scout students have been roped in to assist polling workers transport the EVMs machine in remote villages amidst tight security cover and provisions have been made for distribution of dry ration kurmure channa laddooetc to officials on poll duties in remote villagesOn March 29 a rangoli competition was conducted in the district on the theme of LS 2019 A human chain of tribal women and girls was formed to promote noalcohol and notobacco votingThe district administration has also printed postcards in four languages ndash Marathi Gondi Madavi Bangla to encourage tribal voters with details of the election date time and venue These have been distributed among the tribalsSecurity intensifiedThe GadchiroliChimur Lok Sabha constituency that came into being in February 2008 is reserved for Scheduled Tribes with the first election held in 2009 The constituency is currently represented by MP Ashok Nete of the BJP and will vote on April 11 this yearThe region saw a 6995per centvoter turnout during the 2014 and 67per centin 2009 The district administration is thus hoping for a good turnout this time around too Banners put up bynaxalsdissuading locals from participating wont make much impact Gadhciroli collector Shekhar Singh saidAround 9796per centof the in Gadchiroli is covered with forests and hills and is abundant in natural resources but lacks big industries A paper mill in Ashti in Chmorshi Taluka and a paper pulp factory at Desaiganj are the only two small factories here Singh addedAlso ReadElections 2019 Urmila Matondkar Hardik Patel to address Mumbai youthSecurity forces around Gadchiroli and Gondia districts have been put on a high alert Two BSF constables were killed on Thursday 150 kilometers away from Gadchiroli and four others injured in an encounter with the Maoists in the Kanker district of Chhattisgarh The incident took place when a joint team of BSF and local police were on a search operation in Pakhanjoor area of the districtDistrict statisticsOf the total population of 2191 lakh in the Gadchiroli district 794 lakh men and 773 lakh women are registered voters excluding 1189 service voters Army personnel from the regionWith a few hundred visuallyimpaired speechimpaired and other disabilities most polling stations have been provided with ramp facilities disabledfriendly toiletsandother amenitiesAlso ReadMumbai 77 per cent of juices 97 per cent of ice at railway stations are contaminatedCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates