Ramesh is the new manager at a Noida-based software firm. Being new he finds it difficult to manage a huge workforce, and in frustration, he blames his incapability as a manager. His boss, out of courtesy and to make him learn, decreased the number of people under him to ten. Now, Ramesh was easily able to deliver his ideas, listen to the team, and do everything to make them happy. He finally proved himself to be a great manager.
As he was learning and improving, his boss gradually started injecting new workers under him. Ramesh was coping up with every new entry until the number reached to a point where he again slipped to the previous situation.
Ramesh has a capability of handling a specific number of candidates. Candidates besides the ones working under him are no concern to him. Ramesh needs to satisfy the needs and queries of his under workers, and eventually, these workers are going to be the deciding factor for Ramesh’s capability.
Something similar happens in the country’s election process, lesser the number of voters, easier it becomes for a political party to handle, or satisfy them. Being a voter is not a choice, but a fundamental duty of every citizen. Education is playing a vital role in making the citizens aware and develop good civic sense.
Since first general elections, the voters’ turnout has gradually increased. As per the estimates, out of over 83 crore voters, only 55 crore voters, i.e. 66.40%, cast their votes. The national average of voter turnout is well below many states like Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, and Haryana, among many others.
The problem of low voter turnout is not specific to India alone. It’s a global crisis. The centre and state governments lack a concrete policy for tackling this issue. Even the education system at the elementary level fails to aware the students about their voting rights and importance of choosing governments.
Government’s efforts, on the other hand, towards improving voter turnout aren’t very convincing. This makes me infer that the government is reluctant to address this issue because managing increased voters would be tough.
Increase in the voter turnout is regarded as people’s faith in the political process and a desire for a change of government. Research shows a correlation between a high turnout and anti-incumbency, in India and the US. According to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, factors like literacy rates, population size or average income, have a limited impact on voter participation rates.
The voter participation in Jammu and Kashmir is at the lowest strand in the eligible and voters ranking list. This is due to cross-border infiltration and unstable socio-political conditions. Furthermore, people don’t agree with the government policies.
An independent agency along with the welfare organisations need to run a mass movement to educate the civilians the importance of the election and the value of individual votes.
Individual volunteering can be ensured during election campaign keeping the personal benefit aside. The magical figure of 31% is easy to achieve since civilians are targeted as a cluster. In the highly segregated society, it is firmly easy to do so. Individual benefits shall be ignored for better and bigger change in the society. These suggestions may not be new, but they are needed to be implemented on a bigger scale.