Chhattisgarh: 93-Year-Old Man To Vote For First Time In Kanker

Kanker (Chhattisgarh) [India]: A 93-year-old man in the naxal-hit Kanker district of Chhattisgarh will exercise his voting right for the first time in his life during the assembly elections scheduled this year.

The name of the nonagenarian has been added to the voters’ list during a door-to-door campaign launched in the district under the leadership of District Collector Priyanka Shukla.
Sher Singh Hedko (93), a resident of village Bhainsakanhar (K) under Bhanupratappur assembly constituency, will vote for the first time during this assembly election. Even after the passing of several years, his name was not added to the list. Moreover, errors in documents could be a potential reason for it.

After his name was added to the voters’ list, the nonagenarian is excited to register his active participation in the democratic exercise and choose his representative, said Hedko’s relatives citing him as he is unable to speak properly.

A voter awareness campaign is being carried out in the district and under this initiative, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are undertaking door-to-door campaigns to register names of eligible persons left out in the voters’ list.

As part of this initiative, BLO Rajendra Kosma, who went to enroll the name of Sher Singh’s grandchild, learned that the name of the nonagenarian is also not added to the list and he had not exercised his voting rights even once. Following this, Sher Singh’s formalities were completed.

“This is a remarkable achievement of our BLOs that they approached those, who were left out in the voters’ list for certain reasons, by visiting people at their doorsteps and ensuring the adding of their names. By acting proactively, the BLOs added names of people by helping them arrange required documents and during this exercise, the name of Sher Singh Hedko was also added,” Kanker District Collector Priyanka Shukla said.

Moreover, the names of several senior citizens in the Antagarh and Bhanupratappur blocks were also added this time, she said attributing the credit for this development to BLOs, EROs (Electoral Registration Officers) and the team of SVEEP (Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral Participation).