It’s that time of the year again. The biggest festival of democracy – election – is underway in the five states of Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Punjab and Uttarakhand. And candidates and workers of political parties are lining up at people’s doorsteps to request for votes.
However, in a district of Uttar Pradesh, the District Magistrate was seen going from door to door with folded hands. A sight that surprised many. The district is Pilibhit and the DM is Mr. Pulkit Khare. And he went around raising awareness among the voters about the necessity to go out and vote on election day.
During an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, the 2011-batch IAS officer talked about his unique campaign and its interesting mascot.
GOING DOOR TO DOOR
Pilibhit will vote on Wednesday, 23 February. In the previous elections, the district could record approximately 60-63% votes. The voting percentage in the urban areas was very low. So, since the announcement of elections this time, the district administration started preparing to work towards improving the voting percentage and carried out a full-fledged campaign in the last two months.
The administration organized a kite festival and several seminars on the ‘right to vote’ awareness theme. As the election date drew near, DM Khare himself started visiting households with an invitation card to come and vote.
“It is a tried and tested method. Nothing can beat it. The Pilibhit city has 27 wards. Our team identified few colonies in all the wards which recorded the worst percentage of voting in previous elections. All of these were divided among the senior officers who went door to door, requesting people to come and vote,” Mr. Khare told Indian Masterminds.
CHOSE THE WORST
He himself chose the colony that was the worst of all in terms of voting percentage and visited around 45-50 houses. He personally appealed to the citizens to come and vote for the party of their choice as it is not just their right, but also their duty.
All the 27 wards have been decked up with boards that highlight the voting percentages of previous years, with an appeal that they have to increase it this time. This has created a positive competition among the wards and the DM is hopeful that this initiative will be fruitful.
USED CARDS MADE BY CHILDREN
For an emotional connect in all these visits, the officers were also giving away post cards made by school children. “We have 5 lakh post cards made by the children. The post card says why it is important to vote in a democracy. By giving away these cards, we just wanted to convey that even the children are requesting you, so please come and vote. If not for us, then at least for the children,” said Mr. Khare.
YOUNG TIGER AS A MASCOT
Pilibhit is also home to the youngest tiger reserve in the country. This time, the tiger of Pilibhit is also requesting people to vote while following Covid protocols. Mr. Khare said, “We wanted people to feel pride when they come out for vote. The tiger is our pride, so it was the obvious choice for the mascot.”
The district administration had made several stickers with the mascot on it and distributed it in the transport department, gas agencies and all the government offices. Now, all government vehicles have the mascot sticker, and along with the gas cylinder, the mascot and the message both reach households in the Pilibhit district. With his ingenuity, DM Khare managed to draw people’s attention to both causes – the importance of voting and the importance of the tiger, Pilibhit’s pride!
