The Union Ministry of Education will be organising “Mera Pehla Vote Desh Ke Liye” from February 28th to March 6th 2024 with the aim to ensure universal participation of youth in elections.
Union Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urged the youth to make their voices heard. He highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call to the youth and first-time voters to exercise their franchise in large numbers.
He informed that he had directed all HEIs in the country to conduct comprehensive voter awareness activities at their campuses from 28th February to 6th March, to galvanize our Yuva Shakti, emphasize to them the value of voting, making informed choices, and participating in electoral processes for a more representative democracy.
The main objective of the initiative is to engage and encourage young voters to come out and vote and to convey the importance of voting for the larger good of the nation. The initiative symbolizes the importance of Elections and the pride of voting in the largest democracy in the world.
Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) across the country will take part in the initiative. Designated spaces shall be identified in Universities/ Colleges/ HEIs where the voter awareness relation activities will be undertaken by respective institutions. The initiative will witness both on-ground physical events and online competitions on MyGov platform, said a statement from the Government.
Various activities including competitions on blog writing, podcasts, debate, essay writing, quizzes, extempore, Battle of Bands, etc. will be conducted to show their creativity in content creation.
Interactive workshops and seminars emphasizing the value of voting, understanding the electoral process etc. will also be organised at the institutions. Additionally, the campaign will encourage youth to take the voter’s pledge on the official website https://ecisveep.nic.in/pledge/ to further solidify their commitment to the electoral process. They will also be encouraged to download the Voter Helpline App.
NSS and its volunteers will lead the program in educational institutions, with activities documented on the ‘My Gov’ portal for wider dissemination. Educational institution clubs will also participate in the campaign, the statement added.
