If Assembly Election slated for March 2013 goes ahead as planned, things will hopefully be very different from earlier elections. Many things have changed for the better and today there is not only greater awareness but also better preparedness towards conducting free and fair election. In the last few years where elections were conducted in States across India, the Election Commission has done a commendable job by cracking down on money and muscle power besides developing corrective measures to ensure peaceful and democratic election campaign and free and fair voting. The other important checks being developed by the EC is to put in place a detailed revision of Electoral Rolls. The purposes of this noteworthy exercise is manifold—to enroll new voters, include the names of genuine voters, delete proxy entries and also to come out with Electoral Photo Identity Cards. And in a bid to achieve error-free Electoral Rolls, the Election Department in the State has also made several appeals to all the colony or village GBs, Council members, church leaders and student bodies to participate in the ensuing Special Revision Works by way of strict adherence in identifying genuine applicants for inclusion in rolls, deleting the names of expired, shifted, multiple entry, bogus and underage entries etc from the existing Rolls. As stated by the Election Department the exercise is underway so that we avoid the problems related to the different malpractices during the future conduct of elections. Public at large should also come forward to cooperate and help the authorities in coming out with a more genuine Photo E/Rolls 2012.
In the last few years in Nagaland we are seeing the positive emergence of public grievances being brought to the notice of the government. We have also had people expressing their viewpoints on various issues concerning our State. All this is a healthy sign of a functioning democracy and the growth of civic consciousness. However our duty as citizens does not stop there. We have to remain active participants in the democratic exercise of elections. Too often, the Naga public at large we shy away from playing an active role such as coming out to vote. Some of us don’t even to bother to know whether our names are there in the Electoral Roll. It is very easy to blame the system or our political leaders but public apathy is only encouraging the status-quo. If we really mean what we say about changing the system or taking on corruption or electing honest people, then we have to exercise our fundamental right—to vote. In a way by not voting or showing apathy towards the system, we are actually encouraging the hijacking of our democratic rights by bogus and corrupt elements who will gladly fill in the vacuum. Many times in the past what usually happens is that because genuine citizens do not claim their right to vote, this right is stolen from them by power hungry and money seeking corrupt elements. If we don’t want this to happen in the future let us claim our right, protect it and use it (i.e. vote) conscientiously.
