'Gantantra Rath' to encourage people to vote ethically in Odisha

The chariot would move across all the 14 blocks of Cuttack district asking people to come out in large numbers to vote for a vibrant democracy

To encourage voters to exercise their franchise and vote in an ethical manner, the Cuttack district administration here has launched 'Ganatantra Rath' (Chariot of Democracy).

The chariot would move across all the 14 blocks of the district asking people to come out in large numbers to vote for a vibrant democracy.

Prepared by the district election office, two chariots rolled from the district headquarter here after a colourful flag-off yesterday.

The chariots would camp for at least two days in a block spreading awareness on registration of names in voters' list and how to cast vote in Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).

Setting the chariots roll, ADM Laxmikant Mohanty said all information pertaining to voters' list and EVM could be obtained from the personnel accompanying in the chariots. He said the main aim of the campaign is to encourage the young and new voters to vote in large numbers during elections.

Concerned over a low turnout of voters in booths during elections, the CEC has started similar awareness campaigns across the country. The campaign has already yielded encouraging results during polls to five states last month.

The Cuttack district administration is also planning to make all the 2,171 polling booths of the district as disabled-friendly so that the disabled persons, who shy away from exercising their franchise, would turn up to ensure better polling percentage in the district.