Today is National Voters’ Day. Voting is extremely important in a democratic Nation as it provides citizens an opportunity to vote for what they believe in.
In order to encourage more young voters to take part in the political process, Government of India has been celebrating January 25th every year as “National Voters’ Day”. It is a day to celebrate the right to vote and the vibrant democracy of our Nation.
On this day, I call upon every single citizen of these Islands who has attained the age of 18 as on 1st January, 2019 to enroll as a voter and franchise his/her right in the forthcoming General Election. I request them to ensure that they receive the PVC-Electors Photo Identity Card (PVC-EPIC) which is being issued for the first time in this UT and most importantly, I also call upon them to exercise their right to vote at the appropriate time. I am pleased to know that through consistent efforts we have achieved an electoral roll of 2.94 lakhs voters in the A&N Islands following the recently concluded Roll Revision exercise.
The theme of this year’s National Voters’ Day is “No Voter to be left behind” and special focus around the theme shall target all segments including women, youth, Person with Disabilities (PWDs), Senior Citizens, Service Voters, Overseas Indians as also other marginalized sections of the society. I am confident that the residents of these Islands will heed this call and ensure that this theme is realized in this Union Territory, thus helping to ensure that India continues to be a strong vibrant and inclusive democracy. The NVD Pledge that we all would be talking today is a reaffirmation of our faith in ourselves, our country and our democracy.
I once again convey my best wishes to every Indian citizen on this happy occasion of National Voters’ Day and appeal to everyone to make it a great success by becoming an integral part of the democratic electoral process.
Sd/-
(Admiral D K Joshi)
PVSM, AVSM, YSM, NM, VSM, (Retd.)
Lt. Governor, A&N Islands
&
Vice-Chairman, Islands Development Agency
