KOHIMA: As part of the ongoing SVEEP (Systematic Voter’s Education Electoral Participation) campaign through the initiatives of Election Commission of India, CEO- Nagaland, YouthNet and State SVEEP Icon Alobo Naga, an orientation program was organized at Zisaji Presidency College and Loyola Higher Secondary School. A press release informed that the campaign is to encourage people to vote and stop selling votes, proxy voting, multiple voting, impersonations and more.
On the occasion, EAC and Nodal Officer of Phek District, Tiayanger Jamir spoke about how it was important for people to vote, that “it is our right and each one of us was gifted with and we should not sell our rights.” Especially in a district like Phek which is not connected to the highway, he requested the people to start thinking and choosing leaders who will work with them and create an eco system which will benefit the district. He stated, “If you sell your vote, you sell your future.”
Lezo Putsure from YouthNet further asserted that “we live in a democracy that allows us to choose our leaders and we should do that consciously.” We have to elect leaders that will bring peace, development, economic prosperity, jobs, better education and basic necessities and we have to work together to build our state and for our younger generations to follow, he added. Lezo emphasized that poverty was not about bad roads, infrequent electricity or poor infrastructure, but real poverty was about hypocrisy, blame game attitude, selling our rights and settling for mediocrity.
Meanwhile, Kuovizo Belho enunciated when one person says “My vote doesn’t make a difference”, it becomes 2 and 3 and 4 and then multiplies. Very often, he said, majority chunk adds up to non- voters who underestimate the value of their vote and others use theirs for proxy votes. Ruokuokhrienuo Vizotha encouraged young people to request their elders/heads to allow them to vote for the leaders they believe in and not to sell their votes because it only means a compromise on the future of young people. This whole campaign is for the team to travel across all districts of Nagaland encouraging people to vote.
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