In Bastar, govt spreads voter awareness through hospitals

To encourage voting in naxal-hit Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, the government has come up with a creative initiative wherein awareness messages are being included in prescription slips given to patients at hospitals.

The tribal-reserved Bastar constituency will alone to go to polls in the first of three phases on April 11.

"The initiative was taken up last week as a part of SVEEP (Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation) programme in all government hospitals, including primary health centres and community health centres of the district," Bastar district collector Dr Ayyaz Tamboli told PTI Monday.

He said the Out-patient department's (OPD's) registration tickets and prescriptions are being given to patients with a seal urging people to vote.

One of the messages on the prescription reads: 'vote jarur de, apne matadhikar ka prayog kare' (do vote, exercise your right to vote).

The date of the polling is also mentioned at the bottom of the message.

When asked how the idea occurred, the collector said, "A large number of people visit hospitals daily for availing treatment, so the idea was chalked out keeping in view to cover maximum number of people under the voting awareness campaign there".

The message will also help people, particularly tribals living in interior pockets, to remember the date of polling, he added.

Meanwhile, security forces are also on alert to ensure peaceful polling.

Maoist posters and pamphlets threatening people against voting were recovered from interior areas of Bastar division in the last two days.

"All necessary counter measures have been taken to thwart attempts by Maoists to disrupt the poll process," said a senior police official.

Police and paramilitary forces have intensified anti-naxal operations in the interior pockets, he added.