• Source:JND
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Hailing from the naxal-hit Kanker district of Chhattisgarh, the 93-year-old Sher Singh Hedko will cast a vote for the first time during the assembly elections that are set to take place this year. His name has been added to the voter's list during a door-to-door campaign launched in the district under the leadership of District Collector Priyanka Shukla.

Hedko's name was not in the voters list for several years. After his name was added to the voters’ list, the nonagenarian is excited to register his active participation in the democratic exercise and choose his representative, said Hedko’s relatives citing him as he is unable to speak properly.

In order to spread awareness about the importance of casting votes, a voter awareness campaign is being carried out in the district, and under this initiative, Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are undertaking door-to-door campaigns to register names of eligible persons left out in the voters’ list.

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BLO Rajendra Kosma, who went to enroll the name of Sher Singh’s grandchild as a part of this initiative, got to know that Hedko's name was not in the voter list and he has not voted even once. Following this, all formalities were completed and his name was added to the list.

"This is a remarkable achievement of our BLOs that they approached those, who were left out in the voters’ list for certain reasons, by visiting people at their doorsteps and ensuring the adding of their names. By acting proactively, the BLOs added names of people by helping them arrange required documents and during this exercise, the name of Sher Singh Hedko was also added, "Kanker District Collector Priyanka Shukla said.

Shukla also added that the names of several senior citizens in the Antagarh and Bhanupratappur blocks were also added this time and gave the credit for this to BLOs, EROs (Electoral Registration Officers) and the team of SVEEP (Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral Participation).

(With ANI inputs)