Delhi poll panel ropes in NGOs to spread voting awareness

The Delhi Election Commission has joined hands with around 40 capital-based NGOs for spreading awareness about voters' rights and to boost participation in the upcoming assembly elections, official sources said Monday.

Experts from the NGOs will organize 'nukkad natak' or street corner plays for projecting the importance of voting and also stage rallies so that people understand the value of their vote and use it in the coming election, a source told IANS.

"NGOs will organize rallies and systematic voting education electoral participation (SVEEP) activities in all the nine districts of the state so that more and more people come ahead to vote in the upcoming Delhi state election," the source said.

The NGOs have already started the work in some of the districts, the source added.

"Influential popular public figures will be invited during the rallies so that they talk on the importance of voting," the source said.

"The initiative was taken after analyzing that the voting percentage during the last election in Delhi (2008) was comparatively very low than elections in the northeastern states," he added.