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Pankaj Kumar speaking at the 8th National Voters’ Day programme on Jan. 25 at the Capital Convention Centre in Kohima town.[/caption]
Kohima Bureau
Kohima, Jan. 25 (EMN): The chief secretary of Nagaland Pankaj Kumar has urged Nagaland’s citizens to exercise their right to vote but to vote responsibly to ‘pave way for a brighter future.’ “To a large extent, it is true that the people get the government they deserve. So let us vote responsibly in order to elect the right people,” Kumar said.
The administrator of the state was addressing the 8th National Voters’ Day programme at the Capital Convention Centre at Kohima town on Jan. 25. “How we exercise our vote is very important. If we elect the right people and ask them to do the right thing, then we will get a better government,” he asserted. He referred to ‘some certain worrying trends in our country’: the role of money and muscle power has ‘not come down.’
Another aspect of Indian politics Kumar pointed to was that the number of people with criminal records has been increasing in the Parliament and state legislatures. This is a worrying trend and needs to be tackled, the senior bureaucrat said.
The chief secretary then referred to the concept of ‘clean’ and fair election. Pankaj Kumar observed that the system had been ‘getting better and better’ but emphasized on the need to weed out bogus voters in every constituency and polling station.
“Unless we the voters exercise our rights in a responsible manner, the full result or the maximum output that we need to get from our democratic system will not be achieved,” he said.
The chief electoral officer (CEO) of Nagaland Abhijit Sinha also addressed the event. He gave perspectives about the significance of the day. National Voters’ Day is marked as a day to educate the citizens of the country to engage their democratic exercises freely and fearlessly and to enhance electoral participation.
“It is important for every citizen to get enrolled and exercise their right to vote. All the voters should be informed, ethical and not be influenced of any inducement,” the CEO said. No voter should undergo undue pressure to vote for any particular candidate, he said.
The state’s “icon” representing people with disability, Diethono Nakhro also addressed the programme. In her address, the former journalist said that the theme for this year’s observation—’accessible elections’—was significant for the marginalized community. “For too long, voters with disability have been ignored and marginalised. There have been no attempts to engage disabled voters by the election machinery and the politicians alike,” she said.
Saying that issues of disability have been put to agenda in the recent years, Nakhro expressed gratefulness to the CEO and his team for having made the participation of persons with disabilities an important part of the process here in the state.
“However, much remains to be done,” she added. “The foundations of democracy are undermined when voters with disabilities are denied the fundamental right to voting. This is not just an issue for persons with disabilities. This is an issue for everyone,” Nakhro said.
Speeches were also delivered by Miss Nagaland for 2017 Marina Kiho, who is also a state “icon.” Sievituo Solo, a cyclist, delivered a speech on the topic “my vision for a clean election.”
During the event EPIC and NVD badges were handed out to new voters and millennial voters by the chief secretary. Also, the winners of a slogan writing competition that was conducted as part of the event were Athelong, Sangli and Onoungla. The winners of YVF slogan-writing competition were Itheka, Savita Yadav and Obed KC Tsanglao.
Merio Ngullie and Kekhriese Yhoshü of Ministers’ Hill Baptist Hr Sec. School were also awarded in the category of ‘participants of North East Zone.’ Other awards including Best State Level Campus Ambassador and Best State level BLO were given away on the day.
The anthem on ‘clean elections’ was also release on the day.