Officials to campaign for influence-free polls

Eluru:The West Godavari district administration has decided to conduct massive campaign to bring awareness among voters to make themselves free from unethical influences of political parties and contesting candidates to gain advantage in the ensuing Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

At a meeting held here on Tuesday, Collector Praveen Kumar asked nodal officers to conduct extensive awareness drive to encourage voters participate in elections to save democratic values. They would enlighten the voters not to get lured by others while voting. The voters would be educated on ethical values in elections.

The Collector called upon the officials to get ready to accept challenges confronted in the conduct of elections. The elections would provide a platform for them to prove their efficiency, he said.

Stating that during previous elections, average voting of 80 per cent was registered in the district, the Collector informed that at some places the voting per cent was mere 50 per cent. He asked the officials to improve the voting percentage to 90 per cent during the ensuing polls.

He directed the officials to organise Kala Jatas to spread the message on value and significance of vote among voters. The officials should organise awareness programmes extensively at public places like Rytu Bazaars, shopping malls, crossroads apart from villages and mandal headquarters.

He asked the officials to provide internet and phone connectivity to all 3,411 polling stations in the district. A directory with phone numbers of officials on election duty should be prepared for better communication among them, he advised.