Chamba miniature artist honoured at SVEEP event

Chamba, May 13

Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral Officer Mukesh Repswal on Monday felicitated Chamba District Election Icon and Padma Shri Awardee Vijay Sharma, a famous Pahari miniature painting artist. The event was organised under the Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme. Repswal urged all voters to cast their votes on June 1.

Vijay Sharma highlighted the importance of exercising the power of voting, which is often underutilised by many people. Encouraging responsible citizenship, he urged all residents to increase voter turnout on June 1.

A song titled ‘Vote Pana Asaan, Hak Jamaana Jaroor’ written and performed by Gulshan Pal, was also released at the event. Renowned poet Bhupendra Jasrotia presented a poem titled ‘Vote Pana – Kam Chadhi Karni’ to raise awareness.

Attendees pledged their commitment to democracy by signing the voter’s oath and placing their signatures on the wall, expressing their dedication to strengthening democracy.

Since the implementation of the model code of conduct, the district election authorities have organised over 250 voters’ awareness programmemes across the district under the SVEEP programme covering far-off villages, educational institutions, etc.

As per the data, there are 631 polling stations in the district, out of which 71 had a voter turnout of less than 60 per cent during the previous Lok Sabha elections. Voter awareness programmes have been organised under ‘Mission 414’ in these stations.

To encourage voters, invitation cards made by schoolchildren have been distributed. Additionally, SVEEP teams are coordinating with Nehru Yuva Kendra to register new voters. Approximately 22,000 new voters have been registered in the district over the past year, with around 8,500 voters aged between 18 and 19 years.