15 Million Adolescent (18-20 Year Old) First-Time Voters Will be Significant in the General Elections 2019

/ -- New campaign 'Ab Meri Baari' to set the stage for adolescents to voice their opinions and play an active role in the upcoming elections
Shailja Mehta, Associate Director, Dasra, said, "As India is poised for the 2019 General Elections, a historic number of 15 million adolescents in the age group of 18-20 years are eligible to vote for the first time. This is an opportune time to spotlight their needs, their aspirations and their potential to play a transformational role in the country's development. To do so, we are excited to launch "Ab Meri Baari". We hope that the campaign enables adolescent voters with voice and agency in order to create a generation of role model, influencer voters, who will lay the groundwork for the next set of upcoming first-time voters."

Havovi Wadia, Director-Impact, Magic Bus, said, "Adolescents in Jaipur are keen to make their voices heard. And what better platform than the upcoming general elections 2019. We are happy to associate with the "Ab Meri Baari" campaign that speaks about the much needed involvement of the voices of adolescents and young people living in poverty. At Magic Bus, we have frequently been inspired by the power of resilience that children and young people display in their everyday struggle against lack of safe public spaces, pressures on them to get married or start working early, and the lack of skill sets that would make them job ready. Through our association with this campaign, we're hoping young people will take their first step by voting for the issues that matter to them."

Amit Kumar Ghosh, Program Manager - Adolescent programs, Jharkhand, CINI, said, "We hope through the 'Ab Meri Baari' campaign we can generate ownership and awareness amongst adolescent in the age group of 10-19 about exercising one of their key fundamental rights - Right to vote. We envisage that as the ownership and awareness increases there will be a higher uptake in government services like more access to health centres, regular health check-ups."
For more information, please contact akshay@dasra.org
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