Thane residents go from door to door to help enroll voters

Residents in various parts of Thane have started going from door to door to help citizens enroll as voters ahead of the assembly elections next month.

In the few days since this initiative was started last weekend, the groups have managed to get more than a hundred people to register and they intend to continue till the election department accepts new enrollments.

In the Lok Sabha election in May, many were disappointed to discover that their names were not on the list. "It was a rude shock for me when I didn't find my name in the voters' list during the Lok Sabha election. Thanks to the efforts of these fellow citizens from Ghodbunder my name has been registered now," said Shreya Arora. About 30 people have been registered in the Ghodbunder area.

A similar effort in the Vasant Vihar and Lokpuram areas has managed to get the names of more than a hundred people included in the electoral rolls.

Some residents complained that when they realized that their names were not on the voters' list they submitted the prescribed forms, but got no response from the election office. Now, some of them are grateful to activists of the Progressive Thane Residents Association for helping to get their names on the rolls.

Ahin Sen, a member of the senior citizens forum, said they have been spreading the word among elders to get their family members enrolled and exercise their right to vote.