STATE TIMES NEWS
POONCH: The District Election Officer, Poonch, M.H Malik flagged off a Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) rally by students of various educational institutions of the district from Girls Higher Secondary School Poonch which culminated at Krishan Chander Park .
A programme was also organized in the Girls Higher Secondary School in which district officers, officials of different departments, ASHA and Anganwari workers besides hundreds of students participated.
Senior Superintendent of Police, J.S Johar, Assistant Commissioner Development, Shokat Mahmood Malik, Chief Education Officer, Ch. Lal Hussain, Member Secretary, SVEEP, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Prof. Haroon Rathor, Prof. Anwar Khan, Principal GHSS, Riaz Mir and Pardeep Khanna were present.
Member Secretary SVEEP, Dr. Zakir Hussain while welcoming the gathering gave a brief note on the role of district SVEEP committee and the schedule of SVEEP programmes in the district during the elections.
Speaking on the occasion District Election Officer appealed to the people to exercise their right to vote. The DEO asked the SVEEP team to organise SVEEP programmes in areas where voter turnout had been low. Malik exhorted the students to act as agents of SVEEP and spread the message of effective electoral participation in remote areas adding that greater participation is key to stronger democracy and the main aim is to motivate voters so as to increase voter turnout and one of the best way is to educate and aware students about importance of registration and voting in order to motivate their parents to cast their vote. The students were holding banners, posters and placards to encourage people for registration in the electoral rolls besides educating them about the importance of vote.
Speaking on the occasion Senior Superintendent of Police, J.S Johar also spoke on the occasion and assured of safe and secure environment during elections and appealed to the students to motivate their parents to cast their vote.