The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : CII intervention to enhance voter awareness

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 16, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

CII intervention to enhance voter awareness

By K. Ramachandran

CHENNAI, APRIL 15. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is doing its bit to improve voter awareness as also polling percentage. The idea is to contribute to the strengthening of democracy, to make all eligible persons vote and ensure good governance. "Our intervention is in two forms. One is providing information to voters and the other, to use our corporate and other platforms to increase people's awareness of the need to cast their vote," says Rajesh Menon, regional director, CII southern region.

This intervention is a nationwide effort made for the first time by one of corporate India's largest representative organisations, working closely with the Election Commission and State Election departments. The attempt is being made in the four metros, Bangalore and Hyderabad. "The approach is flexible for each city's requirements," says Mr. Menon. The CII-SR's interventions have already started in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

``The confederation is helping the Election Commission by setting up touch-screen kiosks and desktops, besides call centres. They provide information to the individual voter whether his or her name is in the electoral roll and also information about the respective polling booth. In Bangalore, the voter helpline (2536427) is functioning near the GPO, and voters can call up the centre to get information. The call centre also seeks to resolve issues in case a name is not found in the rolls, by taking it up with the State Election office.''

The touch-screen kiosks will be placed in urban localities, while the desktops will meet the needs of information seekers in suburbs and semi-rural areas. In Bangalore, five touch-screen kiosks and five desktops are installed with necessary software. In Hyderabad, 26 call centres are functional, as information about voter lists is already available elsewhere.

``In Chennai, the facilities will be operational by the end of April. We are working with the State election authorities. Five touch-screens are ready to be installed,'' Mr. Menon says. The second line of intervention is a poster campaign, already on in the States going to the polls in the next few days.

``We have started a poster campaign at hospitals, banks and colleges to reach out to the younger generation and encouraging them to cast their vote.'' Through its ``Young Indians'' (a group of young CEOs) the CII is talking to the youngsters.

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