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India has 2.49 lakh voters aged above 100: CEC Rajiv Kumar
According to Kumar, India has voters from the highest peaks of Himalayas, from the 6,000-km coastline in south, deserts in the west and regions from the east, which indicates the robustness and beauty of the country’s electoral rolls
India has over 0.24 million (2.49 lakh) voters aged above 100 and close to 18 million (1.8 crore) aged above 80, said Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Wednesday.
Kumar was speaking in Pune after flagging off a bicycle rally at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi to create an awareness about voter registration as part of the national level launch of a special summary revision of the voters’ list.
“The country has close to 2.49 lakh voters in our rolls who are (aged) 100 plus. Besides, there are 1.80 crore voters who are above 80 years of age. The country also has voters from 18-19 age group,” said Kumar. He emphasised that the election commission would like to make special summary revision a more inclusive exercise while the latest initiative is aimed at increasing the electoral rolls in urban areas.
According to Kumar, India has voters from the highest peaks of Himalayas, from the 6,000-km coastline in south, deserts in the west and regions from the east, which indicates the robustness and beauty of the country’s electoral rolls.
“India’s first voter Shyam Saran Negi, who recently died, was 106 years old and voted through postal ballot just three days before his death,” said the CEC.
Kumar said the summary revision takes place every year, but this year they are doing a very focused activity and starting it all over the country from Pune with a specific purpose to increase the participation of citizens from urban areas.
As urban population, particularly young voters are not participating in election process on larger scale, the Election Commission of India has decided to start voter registration and awareness campaign from outside Delhi and selected Pune to start the campaign.
During 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Pune recorded 49.84% voters’ turnout which was less than neighbouring Baramati Lok Sabha constituency which had a turnout of 61.54 %.
“What does it mean? Everywhere in the country and the farthest possible states, be it hills, coastal lines, everywhere, inaccessible terrains, deserts, everywhere every single citizen gets enlisted as a voter and strengthens the democracy by not only getting registered but also casting his/her vote,” the CEC said.
“Some of the cities, I am not naming them, do not really do that kind of voting and there is a whole lot of ground which we have to cover in urban areas, that is why this rally was organised to create awareness,” he said.
According to CEC, urban voters from some advanced, big metro cities have shown apathy about polling, but it is expected that these cities should also participate in voting whole-heartedly and help strengthen the democracy.
“The same applies to the youth also. If they can put forth their views on WhatsApp, they can very well put forth their opinion on casting votes,” he said.
Kumar said Pune has been chosen for the national launch of the special summary revision of the voters’ list as it is the “city of knowledge” and the message gets spread faster from here.
