election

By turning his car into an ambulance Ganesh Bhat of Uttarakhand has been saving many lives during this COVID-19 lockdown.

The former Chief Election Commissioner, who completed his education in his hometown and Chennai, told me about the time he could not secure an admission in an engineering college when he was asked about the actor Shivaji Ganesan.

“There were 328 BPL (Below Poverty Line) families in the village. They had neither house nor land. I could uplift them to APL (Above Poverty Line). I think as a Sarpanch that was my biggest achievement and my happiest memory.”

Over the years, people, especially the young, have been losing faith in elections. They are seen as frivolous or pointless. But not voting doesn’t declare disbelief in the voting system. It only worsens our own condition.

There can be numerous reasons not to step out of our houses, stand in the queue, get our finger inked and exercise our right to vote, but there is only one reason for it -- to be heard.

Children today are exposed to a lot more than we had access to, their questions and way of thinking also is different.

Apart from being sturdy and cost-effective, the manufacturers had to ensure that the boxes were tamper-proof.

The theory asks for all elections to take place on the same day every five years. Reformers and reports backing this theory suggest that by doing so, we would be able to save costs, resources and time.

The number of non-residents participating in the last national election was less than a percent of the 16 million who live abroad.

Hailing from Maharashtra's Phase Pardhi tribe, Rajashree Kale is the first corporator from the tribe and has been working for community development since she was 15.