(Writer- Ritika Chopra, Anisha Dutt)
A big decision is going to be taken soon to remove the apathy among the voters of urban areas. The Election Commission is going to write a letter to all central and state government departments, PSUs and private companies with more than 500 employees, asking them to monitor such employees who take leave on the day of polling. But don’t go to vote.
The Election Commission, through its local election officials, will ask government departments, PSUs and private companies to appoint nodal officers who will keep a watch on non-voting employees.
A senior Election Commission official, who did not wish to be named, said, “We would urge employers to send special voter awareness workshops organized by the Election Commission to employees who did not vote on election day. It aims to eliminate voter apathy especially in urban areas.
He further said, “It is unfortunate that people are taking leave but not casting their votes. No one wants his name to come up for not voting. We hope that the action of being identified and sent for workshop after not voting will discourage apathy.”
According to section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, every employee of any trade, business, industrial undertaking or any other establishment registered in the country shall be eligible to vote in the Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha elections. It is mandatory for the employee to be given one day’s leave along with the pay for that day.
According to the Election Commission data, despite greater awareness about voting, apathy has been seen among the voters of urban areas. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 67.40 percent of the total registered voters cast their votes. Constituencies like Dhubri (Assam), Bishnupur (West Bengal) and Arunachal East recorded the highest turnout in the country with 90.66%, 87.34% and 87.03% respectively. In contrast, urban seats such as Srinagar (14.43%), Anantnag (8.98%), Hyderabad (44.84%), Patna Sahib (45.80%) saw the lowest turnout.