Shillai in Sirmaur district registers hike in women electorate

A quantum leap has been witnessed in enhancing the gender ratio of Shillai Assembly segment in Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh from 820 to 831.23 females during a one-and-a-half-month-long electoral roll revision ahead of the ensuing panchayati raj elections.

Prompted by Shillai’s status as having the lowest gender ratio among all assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Nandita Gupta had directed the District Electoral Officer to verify the number of women voters through the Parivar register and ensure their enrollment.

Pertinently, a significant decline had been registered in the voter gender ratio in Shillai during the revision of electoral rolls in June. It had dipped to 820 females per 1,000 males, eliciting concern among officials. To address this, a detailed examination was undertaken from June 4 to July 22, during which booth-level officers reviewed Parivar register of various panchayats and prepared a target list of women who had not been enrolled as voters.

The number of women voters now stands at 36,196 after addition of 683 women. Meanwhile, the number of male voters has been increased to 43,545 after 275 new voters were added. The constituency now has 79,741 voters and this figure is slated to rise further as the revision continues, informed Gupta.

Issues like families migrating to other places such as Paonta Sahib, women leaving for higher education to Shimla or Solan, and newly married women moving into the constituency had contributed to under-enrollment of voters. “In a bid to rule out double enrolment, officers telephonically contacted all such left-out women and ensured their enrollment through both online and offline modes,” the CEO added.

“With geographical constrains, typical societal norms like polygamy and indifference by the booth-level officers have emerged as other reasons for the low women enrollment,” confides Gupta.

In a bid to ensure inclusivity, the Election Commission of India, has also directed the officials to encourage all individuals due to attain the age of 18 years to fill forms for being enrolled as voters. This exercise is carried out every quarter of the year on the 1^st of January, April, July and October. They are later enrolled as voters once they attain the requisite age.

“In Bharmaour Assembly segment, a similar voter revision has also shown encouraging results. The number of women voters has increased from 930 to 949,” informed Gupta. Bharmour had recorded the second-lowest gender voter ratio after Shillai in the state.