The district administration of Nalibari, under the leadership of DC Varnali Deka, organised a mega SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) campaign to highlight the significance of active participation of women in the electoral process for the betterment of the nation. A Hands-on Training Session was conducted for 300 female polling personnel on 28 March.
At the end of the session, all the women polling personnel, officials and officers of the district gathered in front of the office of the District Election Officer, dressed in the traditional Assamese attire – Mekhela Chador – in various hues of pink. They held pink placards with various SVEEP messages, urging all to assert their right and duty to cast their votes. Adding colour and motivating cheer to the campaign, beautiful rangolis with the ECI logo, poll date, etc., were made on this festive occasion to celebrate the festival of democracy.
Notably, the Lok Sabha election in the district will take place on 7 May. In this election, the district administration is determined fill the gap between male and female vote percentage. To achieve the target, various awareness camps has been launched in the district.
Ms. Varnali Deka told Indian Masterminds, “If we look at the polling percentage for Lok Sabha Election 2019, we see that the District Poll Percentage (83.5%) is much higher than that National (67.18%) and State (81.5%) averages, but the differential in percentage of male voting to female is much more. Whereas, at national and state levels, the male and female voting percentages respectively were 67.4%/67.01% and 81.7%/81.4%, but for Nalbari, compared to 84.4% for males, voting percentage for female was only 82.4%. We have been taking up various SVEEP activities to encourage all sections to come forward and cast their votes.” In another unprecedented move, 50% of the urban polling stations of the district would be “manned” entirely by women polling teams in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
ALL WOMEN OFFICERS
Known as the “Pragya Nagari”, Nalbari has a majority of female officers leading the district. This includes IAS officer Deka, who is the Deputy Commissioner and also taking on the duty of the District Election Officer. She has received a number of awards and accolades at the state and national levels for her innovative work in different fields, including the Best DEO Award from the Election Commission of India in 2022 for “Innovative Measures/Best Electoral Practices”. Besides her, the posts of District Superintendent of Police, Deputy DEO (Election Officer), Finance & Accounts Officer, Treasury Officer, District Information and Public Relations Officer, District Social Welfare Officer, etc., are all held by women. In addition, a majority of Additional Deputy Commissioners, Circle Officers, Block Development Officers are also women.
