A major step, A website by election commission.

Dr. Nasim Zaidi, Election Commissioner of India, on Friday launched the website http://indiavoting.org/ to bring voter registration at the doorstep of Corporate India in order to overcome urban voter apathy and increase voter turnout on election day. Speaking at the ‘Voter Awareness and Registration Initiative Launch Ceremony’ organized by FICCI, Election Commission of India (ECI) with Centre for Ethical Life and Leadership (CELL) and NASSCOM, Dr. Zaidi pointed out that gender gap in registration and voter turnout, urban apathy to electoral participation and youth disconnect with the electoral process have emerged as the biggest challenges. To combat these issues, he suggested that creating awareness, motivating people to participate in the electoral process and facilitating and easing out the process for registration were some of the ways to increase voter turnout. Dr. Zaidi said that the Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) wing of the Election Commission commenced work in late 2009. The wing formulates policies, lays down the framework, plan interventions and monitors implementation besides carrying out continuous discourse with the voting public, civil society groups and the media. It handles work related to all aspects of voters’ awareness and education aimed at improving electoral participation in the country and building up a culture of participative democracy among citizens. The Chief Election Commissioner of India, Mr. V S Sampath, whose message was read out in absentia, lauded the participation of the private sector to enhance electoral participation in the country. “There is hardly any cause that deserves a higher place in CSR. I always felt that a major contribution in the field of voter education and awareness is due from the vibrant and resourceful industrial and business houses. The action starts from home with registration and voting of their own staff and employees,” he said. Mr. Akshay Rout, Director General, Election Commission of India, said that the launch of the website will help in connecting India. With this initiative, the Election Commission and the corporate sector will work in an organized way which will also help in just reaching out to the youth who must be enrolled in a big way increase the overall voter turnout. Corporates can engage their resources to get into the community and motivate people to register and vote. He affirmed that there has been a continuous dialogue with India citizens by the Election Commission and other associate bodies and social cells to create awareness about voter facilitation in areas of registration and issuing voter identity cards. And now the corporate sector of India is also a part of this process. Dr. S Y Quraishi, Former Chief Election Commissioner and Honorary Chairman, CELL, said, “This exclusive collaborative initiative of FICCI, NASSCOM, Election Commission and CELL to accelerate voter registration will make a singular contribution to participatory democracy that Election Commission is proactively promoting. CELL’s initiative to enthuse Corporate India to become active participants in democratic process has been warmly welcomed. Their positive response is indeed heartening.” Mr. Sidharth Birla, President of FICCI, in his remarks, said that several reasons could be attributed to voter apathy, from bad governance, lack of voter trust and interest in political and electoral processes to low literacy rate.  He said the issues that need to be addressed for increasing voter awareness and participation are gender gap in registration and voter turnout, urban apathy to electoral participation, youth disconnect with the electoral process, participation of weaker sections and informed and ethical voting. On its part, FICCI has set up a Task Force on Electoral Reforms under the umbrella of the Inclusive Governance Council chaired by Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, Chairman, Center for Ethical Living and Leadership (CELL) and Former Chief Election Commissioner. One of the agenda items for this Task Force is to work towards increasing voter awareness and participation and also look at other aspects of electoral reforms. Aiming to widen the connect with the member organizations on increasing voter registration, FICCI  in collaboration with Centre for Ethical Life and Leadership (CELL) and Election Commission of India (ECI) is launching this awareness and registration campaign. The campaign aims to facilitate voter registration within the industry and sensitize its employees on the need to exercise their franchise. Mr. Birla said that this voter awareness and registration initiative will be carried out over the next few months in run up to the Lok Sabha elections. Mr. Saurabh Srivastava, Trustee, NASSCOM Foundation, said, “Urban and youth voter apathy are real issues and unfortunately, many of our three million IT-BPM employees relocate for their jobs thereby contributing to the gap. Therefore, we at NASSCOM and NASSCOM Foundation are proud and thrilled to partner with the Election Commission of India  to meaningfully engage our employees in their MyKartavya (duty) to participate in India's great democracy.”