National Awards

2014 was the fifth year that the National Awards announced by the Commission in 2011 to encourage excellence, proficiency and innovations in the field of election management, were presented. The purpose of instituting these awards has been to recognise contributions by the election machinery, media and now the Civil Society Organisations. The National Awards have set new benchmarks for efficient conduct of elections in the country. These have helped develop a core resource base among officers in election management and promoted mutual learning and emulation. BEST ELECTORAL PRACTICES AWARDS 2014 Voter Education and Electoral Participation Dr. Shahid Iqbal, DEO, Reasi, Jammu & KashmirInitiatives: SVEEP campaigns ‘Jashn-e-Jamhuriat’ consisting of innovative activities such as Youth Parliament, cultural and sports events, democracy blood donation camps, street plays and shows, vote on wheels- election express etc. over a period of 8 Months involving Officials and non-officials; and 942 women volunteers Targeted campaigns for participation of women, migrants and nomadic population; 320 Women Voter Facilitation Counters made functional alongwith 38 Voter Facilitation Centres Collected 1.45 Lakh Pledge Letters Outcomes: Overall increase of 38% in voter turnout in the district from 43% in 2009 to 81% in 2014 Lok Sabha election Highest ever women turnout- increased from 34% in 2009 to 79% in 2014 Lok Sabha election, gender gap reduced from 20% to 1% 16% increase  in voter registration EPIC coverage- 96% Security Management Mohd. Suvez Haque, SP, Gadchiroli, MaharashtraInitiatives: Comprehensive planning of security Management, accommodation of outside forces Creation of temporary base camps for security, use of choppers for safe induction and de-induction of polling parties, high-tech anti-naxal Ops Facilitated surrendered Naxals for voting Awareness creation among the public and specially women Outcomes: Gadchiroli witnessed the 5th highest voting percentage in Maharashtra; voter turnout increased from 65.91% in 2009 to 69.84% in 2014 Number of Naxal crimes during election period decreased drastically Local People participated in voting confidently Infrastructure Management Ms. Smita Pandey, DEO, Uttar Dinajpur, West BengalInitiatives: Unique Colour Coding and Unit Concept APONAR JONNYA (kit with bed roll, bed sheet, mosquito net, and pillow for the Polling Personnel) Involvement of Self Help Groups for providing food- arrangements at the DCRC as well as Polling Stations Payment of remuneration to the Polling Personnel through electronic credit system Outcomes: Smooth conduct and better co-ordination More motivation for next election and Increased willingness to perform duty Expenditure Monitoring and Tackling Money Power Shri C.V. Anand, Commissioner of Police, Cyberabad, Andhra Pradesh Initiatives: Static Surveillance Teams and flying squads throughout Cyberabad, 12 Inter District Border check posts Development of informants—some from political parties, repositioning of SSTs/ F-squads every 4 hrs Check for non-conventional modes/ methods of cash transfers and goods transports Outcomes: Total cash seizures of Rs 21.97 crores (highest in the country), single largest cash seizure of Rs 8.18 crores Initiation of 107 Cr. P.C. proceedings against 27 warring groups, charge sheeting immediately of all 341 MCC violation cases and depositing of all 1588 licensed weapons No re-poll, no grave incident in all 4 elections Highest ever voter turnout of 62%    Use of Technology Shri Vikram Kapur, DEO, Chennai, Tamil NaduInitiatives: Special initiative to track the election expenditure monitoring teams functioning in 3 PCs of Chennai. 48 vehicles for these EEM teams were on field at any point of time and to put them to optimum use ,it was decided to track the vehicle with a vehicle tracking system (GPS system) Real time monitoring was integrated with the Complaint Cell in the District Election Office VTS was installed in 48 vehicles of the flying squad ,static and video surveillance teams Outcomes: Seized 23,508 gms. Of Gold from 3 constituencies in the district   Seized cash of Rs. 1,20,11,800/- Live tracking of all EEM Vehicles ensured better compliance from EEM teams Management of Electoral Rolls Shri Abhishek Prakash, DEO, Bareilly, Uttar PradeshInitiatives: Several awareness inititives for voter registration 10,000 people participated in march-past for voter awareness Organized voter quiz for 30 days over All India Radio and FM channels, two prizes per day and a total of 60 prizes were given to the voters for correct answer Slips, Hand Bills, Stickers and Stamps used as a tool to motivate people for voter registration. Use of stamps by banks, sugar mills, pharmacists, doctors and other vendors paid good results Outcomes: Increase of 2,75,792 electors during summary revision and continuous updation out of 30,00,000 oath papers distributed 21,00,000 people took written oath and submitted duly filled and signed oath papers to election office EPIC - 99.92%, PER (Photo Electoral Roll) - 100% Innovative Area—inclusion of women, differently abled and senior citizens Ms. Kinjal Singh, DEO, Sitapur, Uttar PradeshInitiatives: Training of BLOs to record new voter registration, voting slip distribution, data of senior citizens and disabled voters in the BLO register Bulava Toli included women, senior citizens, differently abled and aanganwadi workers. In two months period, 8 Matdata Raths were launched and more than one lakh cylinders with written messages went to farthest rural households. Print media was effectively used to popularise the timing and venue of oath administration in the district. Mega events organised for motivation of physically challenged through Grand Kavi Sammelan, poster making competition, mashal and bike rallies. More than 50,000 people participated in the event. Outcomes: 9000 differently abled from 3000 polling booths of the district participated in the rally Efforts to increase women, senior citizens and disabled persons participation also yielded good results SPECIAL AWARDS Use of Technology Shri Anil Kumar, CEO, ChandigarhInitiatives: Extensive use of SMS facility for management of complete training process, EVMs, day to day information sharing, messages to public regarding election schedule, candidates, Polling Station etc. Queue length information and Monitoring System - Real time online system in which entries of queue length made directly through SMS E-Polling monitoring system - Real time online generation of complete voter’s record and statistics using computers at all Polling Stations Webcasting of 167 sensitive polling stations Bar code identification in 20 polling stations using bar-coded voters slips and bio-metric identification in one Polling Station Instant real-time mechanism to compile counting results; data ‘PUSH’ methodology to instantaneously provide registered users with the result at the end of each round through SMS Outcomes: Rise in voting percentage from 64% in 2009 to 73.84% in 2014 Lok Sabha election EPIC coverage- 99.92% Voter Education and Electoral Participation Dr. Vikrant Pandey, DEO, Valsad, GujaratInitiatives: Major steps for voter education, enrolment and ethical voting Repeated monitoring through video conferencing and interaction with the District Collectors Multiple Voter Facilitation Centers in 231 Matdata Sahayta Kendras (MSKs) and 11,000 plus Common Service Centres (CSCs) across the State Outcomes: Voter turnout increased to 74.28% during Lok Sabha election 2014 100% EPIC and PER coverage Expenditure Monitoring Shri Amrendra Kumar Tiwary, Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), Madhya Pradesh and ChhattisgarhInitiatives: Devised three tier structures comprising of Income tax teams in various offices of Investigation Wing in major cities Workshop to familiarize the officers with the nature of duties and sensitize them with regard to seriousness and sensitivity of the work to be undertaken District Units covering all districts of remained vigilant 24 x 7 to receive information at any time and were always in the state of preparedness, fully equipped with ‘search kits’. Efficient dissemination of information: modern tools of communications were used Outcomes: Created noticeable deterrence in the movement of cash and valuables from different agencies Seizure of substantial cash; Rs 80 Lacs were apprehended The directional leadership and devotion to duty by entire team enhanced operational support at all levels Expenditure Monitoring Shri Ashok Terenia, Excise Commissioner, Cuttack, OdishaInitiatives: Measures to prevent hoarding and bulk sale of liquor during the election process CCTV installed in 863 major liquor shops for regulation of distribution and sale of liquor in a transparent manner Excise officials deployed in all border check posts of Odisha to check inflow and outflow of ID liquor Toll Free Help Line was operational to receive intelligence on sale of illicit liquor and bulk sale of liquor Outcomes: 40,000 bulk litres of illicit liquor seized accounting to Rs. 40 Lakhs appx. Use of Technology Ms. Sonal Giri, ADC, Bhatinda, PunjabInitiatives: Developed a first of its kind android based user friendly mobile application ‘i-Vote’ providing  complete election related utility features like searching one’s EPIC details, finding directions to one’s polling booth, information about contesting candidate's affidavits , a comprehensive model code of conduct for ready reference,  an easy complaint submission mechanism and live election results. I-Vote encompasses pre-election purposes such as new voter registration, deletion of name, change of address or other information, BLO information/ appointment, nearest Booth information etc. During election gives information of candidates, knowing model code of conduct and easy complaint mechanism, e-Voter Slip, map2booth and post voting live election results. Outcomes: Easy access to election related information Live counting trends for Nation-wise, state/constituency wise and party wise results AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE TO STATES Jammu & Kashmir Initiatives: A complete online system for managing the Urdu electoral rolls, web-based data entry and centralised auto generation of unique EPIC number and auto detection of logical data errors using ERMS A special advance contingency plan prepared for shifting polling booths to alternate locations in critical conditions Focussed SVEEP programme ‘AITMAAD’ targeted at women, youth, elderly, nomadic tribes, differently abled, armed forces and urban population SMS reminders, SMS based poll day monitoring system including voter ‘Q’ (queue) information system Real time State website to showcase various activities across the State under SVEEP 565 model polling stations set up Outcomes: Voter turnout in Lok Sabha election increased by 10.42% over the 2009 Lok Sabah election, women turnout increased by 14.68% Gender ratio improved to 889 as against Census ratio of 883 Peaceful polls and PER coverage of 4.19% & EPIC coverage of 91% Madhya Pradesh Initiatives: Introduction of real time polling percentage dashboard for most sought after information for citizens and media and poll day real time management Web crawling technology for 65 e-papers, 24 blogs, 35 twitter accounts for Paid News and MCC violations, web-casting of all polling stations—3000 Intensified SVEEP programme with focus on developing partnerships, analytical approach in SVEEP action plans, bridging various gaps and strengthening Matdata Sahayat Kendras (MSKs) Effective complaint redressal system and vulnerability mapping of critical polling stations Outcomes: Peaceful and incident free polls with a 10.40% increase in voter turnout in Lok Sabha 2014 election as compared to that in 2009 Gender on roll- 902 as compared to Census gender ration of 930; gender gap bridged by 4.07% points Urban apathy considerably reduced in Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur and Ujjain with turnout increase by  14 to 15% points 100% PER and EPIC coverage Sikkim Initiatives: Efficient coordination, meticulous planning and systematic execution at all levels Video Conferences with District Election Machinery every alternate day to ensure coordination, review and compliance SVEEP activities such as street plays, signature campaigns, rallies, posters, pamphlets, radio jingles, TV ads, demonstration centres, etc. used Efficient Grievance Redressal mechanism to monitor the complaints,  Action Taken Reports sent to the Complainant without fail Outcomes: Smooth and peaceful conduct of elections in harsh terrain and remote Polling Station locations with lack of infrastructure and connectivity faced Voter turnout of 83.65% in Lok Sabha election 2014, women turnout of 81.33% EP ratio- 58.60% 100% EPIC and PER coverage Andhra Pradesh Outcomes: Smooth and peaceful conduct of elections in naxal affected areas NATIONAL MEDIA AWARD National Media Award for outstanding campaign on Voters’ Education and Awareness Print Media category Times of India Mumbai for an outstanding and focused campaign with regular news and articles to promote voter awareness and electoral participation during the general election to 16th Lok Sabha 2014. Electronic Media category ETV Andhra Pradesh and ETV Telengana regional news channel  for an outstanding campaign using innovative programmes to counter urban apathy and enhance electoral participation of people with a special focus on youth during Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections 2014. CSO AWARD CSO Award for outstanding campaign on Voters’ Education and Awareness National Service Scheme (for activities in Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Gujarat) NSS organised voter registration camps, rallies, marathons, rangolies, candle marches, Jagrukta Rathas, and competitions like plays, essays, slogan making, debates, songs etc. in Universities, Colleges and at public places. Several campaigns and activities including ‘Srijan’ exhibition, training by video conferencing, TV talks, voter awareness yatras etc. were launched under the umbrella of the SVEEP campaign which reached out to a large population in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Odisha. National Election Watch (for the campaigns in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra and Bihar) National Election Watch organised ‘Mera Vote Mera Desh’ campaign in the States to promote ethical and informed voting through awareness activities, audio-visual material involving celebrities, panel discussion on TV, collaborations with grassroots organisations and use of social media and android apps reaching out to a huge population. Volunteer for Better India‘I Vote for a Better India’ campaign was run across many States to create awareness about the importance of voting using street plays, posters, downloadable content, competitions like Vote-athon and Junior Vote-athon and ‘Know your Civic Quotient’ video on social media. The campaign reached out to large masses for voter registration and ethical participation. Let’s Vote, Andhra Pradesh The CSO sensitised citizens, especially professionals and educated urban population to enrol and cast their vote. It organised awareness activities and enrolment drives and developed mobile app for enrolment, verification, PS tracking, reporting election malpractices etc. reaching out to a large population in the State. Janagraha, Karnataka Proper Urban Electoral (PURE) Roll Management System deployed to create an end-to-end mapping of processes that ensured continuous maintenance of Electoral rolls. The CSO also organised awareness activities and implemented a unique model of 2-3 AVMs (Area Voter Mitras) working with a BLO resulting in considerable increase in enrolment. Mahatma Gandhi International School, Ahmedabad, Gujarat The school faculty and ‘future voters’ worked towards spreading voter education through classroom activities, integration of SVEEP in course curriculum and student projects to promote electoral and democracy education. Class Constitution was based on published Constitution of India and set up School Council to initiate self-governance and participation in decision-making. This unique initiative resulted in voter education for youth and collection of sankalp patras (pledge letters) in huge numbers.

NATIONAL AWARDS 2013 FIRST AWARD Joga Ram, DEO, Kota, Rajasthan Best Electoral practices: Innovations in SVEEP Network of partnerships developed for SVEEP among various departments and private agencies; 205 bank-branches made Voter Help Desk in a unique drive More than 2 lac SMS sent to voters ahead of and on poll day Targeted interventions for women saw ‘Maa-beti sammelan’, roping in AWW and ICDS workers in SVEEP campaign Innovations like using ‘ Yellow rice’ for inviting voters, including SVEEP messages in Employment Fairs for youth, at community marriages etc Outcomes: Overall increase of 13.86% in voter turnout in the district; highest among all 33 districts in the state Highest ever women turnout of 75.91% with increase of 15.02% over AE 2008 EPIC- 99.99% & PER- 99.99% Smt. M. V. Savithri, DEO, Chamarajnagar, Karnataka Best Electoral practices: Innovation in technology use and infrastructure management Direct transfer of remuneration of polling officials to their bank accounts Initiatives like honoring BLOs and infrastructural support to polling staff Video documentation of polling process by engineering students without additional cost Personal interventions in villages that wanted to boycott elections due to certain issues and motivated the villagers to participate in elections Outcomes: Highly motivated polling staff Turnout in district increased from 71% to 79% in AE 2013 90% villagers from boycott villages came out to vote SECOND AWARD Smt. Alarmelmangai D, DEO, Kanker, Chhattisgarh Best Electoral practices: Inclusive and Participative Electoral Process Micro level planning at Polling Station level in prominently LWE affected district to facilitate people to vote Detailed communication plan developed in naxal affected areas to overcome poor connectivity CBM and motivation of staff and electors Outcomes: Increase in voter turnout from 66% in 2008 AE to 78% in 2013 AE EPIC coverage- 99.58% & PER coverage- 99.84% EP ratio of 61.85% R N Dash, SP, Kanker, Chhattisgarh Best Electoral practices: Innovations in security and infrastructure management Differential force deployment plan based on ground requirements Shifting of Polling stations, use of local informers and alternate routes to polling stations Use of wireless, VHF sets and walky-talkies for tracking the movement of polling teams and air lifting of polling teams Outcomes: Peaceful polls without any major casualty Increase in voter turnout from 66% in 2008 AE to 78% in 2013 AE Sh. Kundan Kumar, DEO, Saran, Bihar Best Electoral practices: Management of electoral roll Special camps for women registration organized with active participation of AWW and MNREGA workers Launch of SVEEP campaign with 52 campus ambassadors Innovative voter awareness campaign to enhance enrolment Use of IT, establishment of district level call centre with 5 lines for queries and issues of electors Outcomes: Record no. of 2,60,839 Form 6 collected, EP ratio increased from 58% to 63% Gender ratio increase from 823 to 864 PER coverage to increase from 94% to 100% THIRD AWARD Dr. Ashok Kumar Bhargava, DEO, Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh Best Electoral Practice: Voter awareness and education Innovative measures to reach out to people in the district with primarily tribal population with high illiteracy and backwardness and also poor connectivity Intensive voter awareness and education campaigning through direct contact, interpersonal communications, mass media, art forms, rallies, speeches, cultural activities, human chains, colleges, schools, line depts., banks, post offices and cultural groups, mobile and social media etc. Voter awareness stickers on public transport and LPG cylinders in huge nos Special helpdesks in colleges, 7221 voter awareness rallies organized with help of schools and colleges Outcomes: 5.29% increase in voter turnout in 2013 AE The gender gap in turnout drastically decrease to 0.65% in AE 2013 from 5% in AE 2008 237 PS in Shahdol recorded more than 80% turnout Simranjeet Singh, DEO, Leh, Jammu & Kashmir Best Electoral Practice: Special enrollment initiatives and voter awareness Inclusion of young voters through special camps at Universities and Colleges in Jammu, Punjab & Chandigarh Checking duplication of names on voter list SVEEP activities in convergence with Central and State Govt. Depts. like M/o Minority Affairs, Rural Dev. Dept., Doordarshan, AIR, NYKS and NSS volunteers Outcomes: 100% PER coverage Enrollment of 2,500 young electors SPECIAL AWARD Jaideep Govind, CEO, Madhya Pradesh Initiatives: Major steps for voter education, enrolment, ethical voting and increasing the turnout in Assembly elections 2013 to record high for the State Repeated monitoring through video conferencing and interaction with the District Collectors Multiple Voter Facilitation Centers facilitated in 231 Matdata Sahayta Kendras (MSKs) and 11,000 plus Common Service Centres (CSCs) across the State Major drive undertaken to add/ delete/ rectify names in Rolls Made it mandatory to produce receipt of Form‐6 or EPIC with new driving license’s application through RTO Computerized randomization of polling personnel and complaint monitoring portal Partnered Government and private corporations, state icons and ambassadors, NSS, NYKS, Red Cross, NCC, Sainik welfare, posts offices, lead bankers, Doordarshan, AIR in enhancing enrolment, turnout and ethical voting Outcomes: Voter turnout increased from 69.28% in 2008 AE  to 72.32% in 2013 AE, a record for the state Record women voter turnout of 70.10% in 2013 AE 100% EPIC and PER coverage EP ratio increased from 53.74% in 2011 to 55.06% by 01-01-2012, currently 61.61% Capt. Pradeep Shoury Arya, Jt. Commissioner IT, Karnataka Initiatives: Effective Monitoring and Checking the Transportation of Cash by Air during Karnataka AE 2013 Effectively reduced the use of money power by the Candidates or their Supporters and Political Parties. This included the monitoring of cash flow for elections funding through chartered flights and helicopters not only in the State but also from flights arriving from Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Goa and New Delhi. Outcomes: Seized Cash of Rs. 1 Cr from a helicopter in Longleng, Rs. 2.65 Cr from Candidate of Janata Dal Secular, Rs. 42.5 lacs from President, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike etc Smt. Priyanka Shukla, CEO—Zila Parishad, Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh Initiatives: Extensive SVEEP activities in the LWE affected district to inform, encourage and mobilize voters Various departments and agencies in the district roped in as partners to reduce information and facilitation gaps for voters Educational and motivational PRATIGYA campaign focused at ethical voting 18 voter facilitation camps Outcomes: Voter turnout of 83.45% in 2013 AE as compared to 76% in 2008 Gender gap decreased from 4% to 0% in polling in the district Registration of more than 2 lac new electors BEST STATE AWARD Rajasthan Initiatives: Electoral roll management and partnerships with various Govt. and non-government departments and organizations for SVEEP implementation 60,72,962 Sankalp Patras/ pledge letters collected SVEEP messages and posters on more than 200 Govt. websites Name search in voter list provided through website and SMS query system Motivation of businessmen, traders and associations to take up voter awareness campaigns 5 mobile PS were set up, ramps and braille signages for disabled citizens at Polling Stations Outcomes: Highest ever turnout in the state at 75.67% in 2013 AE Women turnout was higher than men for the first time in the history of the state; Women turnout was 75.40% in 2013 AE - 0.64% higher than male turnout Peaceful polls and PER coverage of 99.65% & EPIC coverage of 99.72% Karnataka Initiatives: Significant improvements in electoral roll management system (ERMS) Effective Communication and SVEEP programme Information and motivation of electors through media partnership and partnering with other State Govt. Depts. Personalized review and monitoring by CEO along with proper training of field level officers SMS gateway for effective communication was procured through NIC Online submission of form 6, 7, 8 and 8A Outcomes: Peaceful and incident free polls with high turnout of 71.74% in AE 2013, highest in 35 years EPIC & PER coverage of 98.97% EP ratio of 66.32% in AE 2013 Delhi Initiatives: Meeting Gender Gap in turnout, youth participation and urban participation Partnership building with outside organizations/ departments and media agencies Training of election officials and observers SMS query facility made available to the general public Facility of online registration made available, almost 30% registration was online Polling Stations marked in Google Maps to help citizens locate them 45 Model Polling Stations set-up Outcomes: Highest ever turnout in the history of the state with more than 8% increase in voter turnout from 57.61% in 2008 AE to 65.98% in 2013 AE Polling in 18-21 age group : 73%, polling in 18 year age group : 78% 18-19 years age group registration increased from 0.93% to 3.40% 100% EPIC and PER coverage Tripura Initiatives: Female enrollment exceeded that of males in age group 20-29 Innovative measures and use of technology for SR 2013 All claims and objections uploaded online through ERMS Launch of new website with modern online search facility for electoral rolls Deployment of SVEEP measures with targeted interventions for women and youth 98% postal ballots cast due to new and unique initiative of Postal Ballots Facilitation Outcomes: Voter turnout of 93.61%, highest in the country, ever. Women turnout was 2.11% higher than male turnout Peaceful and successful elections without a single untoward incident Gender Ratio increased from 958 to 964 in final rolls 2013 100% PER/ EPIC coverage Percentage of 18-19 years age electors increased from 3.27% in 2012 to 3.78% in final electoral roll of  2013 NATIONAL MEDIA AWARD National Media Award for outstanding Campaign on Voters’ Education and Awareness Print Media category — Rajasthan Patrika for an outstanding and focused campaign with 360 degree approach to voter awareness, enhancing electoral participation during the general elections to state legislative assemblies of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh Electronic Media category — DD Girnar for an outstanding campaign aimed at voter awareness with programmes broadcast on ethical and inducement-free voting during the general elections to state legislative assemblies of Gujarat

NATIONAL AWARDS 2012 FIRST AWARD Kamini Chauhan Ratan, DEO Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh Best Electoral practices: Voter Awareness and Participation Feminisation of Voter education campaign to target the traditionally low women participation in elections in the state Popularising EPIC: Carrying of EPIC cards was made compulsory for all district level officials.  Catchy slogans like ‘Do minute vote ke liye ‘ and ‘Chulha Chauka Tabhi Jalega, Pahle Hamara Vote Padega’ used for target audience. A Cartoon Series, used for increasing voter awareness made for high impact message of voter participation. High visibility activities like world’s largest Rangoli, a mammoth map of India created using candles (mat dweeps) etc caught peoples imagination Outcomes: Voter turnout in district recorded a high of 61.33%, increase of 15% over last assembly elections. Women turnout was higher than men at 61.49%, a record in the history of the district and state. The women turnout increased by 19% over the last Assembly election. Shri Surendra Singh, DEO Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh Best Electoral practices: Voters' Education & Awareness Developed partnerships with Educational Institutions, Corporate Houses, Private and Public sector Media for Voter Education and Awareness. Carried out convergence of Voter Education programmes with Government’s other programmes for better out reach. Longest ever-Human Ring, aircrafts airdropping voting appeal, matdata rakhi carrying voter education messages, Facebook interaction with young educated electors, were some of the innovative activities undertaken to engage electors and motivate them to participate in elections. Outcomes: Voter turnout in district increased from 5.09 lakh in 2007 o 10.09 lakh in 2012. Turnout percentage increased from 44.33% in 2007 to 63.97% in 2012 Female electors turnout increased by 12.64%. EP ratio had remarkable growth from 55%to 62.49%. Gender ratio on rolls increased from 781 to 811. SECOND AWARD Avantika Aulakh, DEO Bharuch & DEO Anand, Gujarat Best Electoral practices: Inclusive and Participative Electoral Process 35 villages in Bharuch, having a consistently low voting pattern identified for 2-phase community awareness campaign using traditional folk theatre. Women, Youth, Tribals and Industrial Workers were targeted for special interventions to reduce gap in their participation Social Networking sites like Facebook Discussion Forum, Competitions, College Fests, Campus FM shows were utilized for enrolling youth in Anand district Facilitation of young married women for obtaining supporting documents for voters’ registration was done in Anand with the help of ASHA and Anganwadi workers Outcomes: In Bharuch district, Voter-Turnout was 75.11% against the turnout of 64.36% in 2007, while in Anand the turnout rose to 74.89%, highest ever for the district. Female Voter Turnout in Bharuch was 73.91%, an increase of 11% over last Assembly election. Highest Voter-Turnout in Tribal Reserved constituency of Bharuch Increase in Voter Turnout in Vulnerable areas and in traditionally Low Voter Turnout Areas of Bharuch No. of youth electors (18-19 yrs) increased by more than 3 times in Anand district Pravin Bakshi , District Election Officer , West Garo Hills, Meghalaya Best Electoral practices: Innovatiove SVEEP Campaign for Voter education and awareness Creating a brand for the Commission SVEEP programme Spectacular and visually appealing campaigns like pamphlets being air-dropped from the skies by motor-gliders caught attention of the people Meeting registration shortfall polling station wise through feedback from political parties EROs sent to their alma-mater to spread message of electoral participation Substantially reaching out to the vibrant and vocal Facebook brigade of district to break apathy of urban youth SVEEP Convergence With Music & Rock Festivals in the district to reach out to the widest population in fun filled atmosphere Intensive, focused and modular campaign for enrolment of women following marriage and migration Outcomes: 15096 new enrolment; Increase of 48-50% over last special summary revision PER coverage: 100%; EPIC coverage: 100% Gender Ratio of rolls: 999.88 ahead of the census ratio THIRD AWARD Ms Jaishri Kiyawat, DEO Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh Best Electoral Practice: Enrolment Process Intensive work carried out for registration of electors in the tribal district achieving inclusiveness in the Roll Identification of low coverage polling stations and targeted campaign in difficult terrain Continuous and intensive multilayer monitoring carried out alongwith incentives for BLOs The large migrating working class population was advised to use Voter ID as Inter state passport for Identification & Security through sustained information campaign Outcomes: EP ratio improved from 53.12 in 2011 to 61.06 in 2012 in the district Gender on roll improved from 970 to 978 EPIC with photos increased from 92.2% to 97% Total registered electorate increased by more than one lakh in one year Shri Ram Krishna Bhardwaj, SP Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh Best Electoral Practice: Facilitation Empowerment and capacity building of village chawkidars through ID card, special headgear and a lathi, medical checkup and pamphlet specifying duties. Confidence building through Vishwas parchis, Vishwas SMS and Vishwas phone IT interventions like dynamic Map of district containing all information about each village; Vehicular search software to nab erring vehicles; CCTV to keep tab on people meeting Jail inmates; Bulk SMS based communication to constables at polling centers etc. Outcomes: Night patrolling increased and strengthened by chawkidars; their election related reporting was precise and helpful. Number of persons visiting jail inmates nosedive to nearly one third due to CCTV intervention. CBMs like Vishwas Patras etc contributed to high turnout in the district neutralizing fear of intimidation IT interventions helped in fast action on complaints SPECIAL AWARD Ajit K Shrivastava , Addl Director of Income Tax, Ranchi, Jharkhand Initiatives: Led the Investigation Wing of Income Tax Department for the highly sensitive and overnight task, based on accumulated intelligence and expertise and took innovative and timely action to intercept large amount of cash meant for influencing the Rajya Sabha election from Jharkhand. Cash of Rs. 2.15 crore was seized from the car of the brother of one of the independent candidates, which was being transported from Jamshedpur to Ranchi in the wee hours of morning for the purpose of bribing the electors. Outcomes: ECI countermanded the biennial election to the Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand. STATE AWARD Uttar Pradesh Initiatives: Managing peaceful polls with more than 7.5 crore people casting their vote involved a mammoth planning and management exercise Series of innovations in voters’ facilitation included easy access to registration process, responsive election machinery and regular interaction with the election managers High profile events like longest Human Chain, largest Rangoli etc were organized to involve people in the electoral process Women centric interventions were taken up in view of the traditionally abysmally low women’s participation in the electoral process Forging effective partnerships during the Assembly Elections which saw Corporate Houses, Media, Educational Institutions and various Government Departments and Banks pitching in for the SVEEP campaign of ECI Engaging with youth through various means and methods including social media and Facebook Effective and timely dissemination of information through CEO’s website and quick response to complaints and suggestions Outcomes: Record Voter turnout of around 60% in Assembly Elections 2012, which is highest ever the history of the State Higher rate of women turnout than men for the first time ever in the State Urban apathy was successfully tackled and higher turnout reported in urban centers including Allahabad city, Lucknow city, Gautam Budh Nagar, Mathura and Ghaziabad Gujarat Initiatives: Targeted approach, polling station wise, was carried out for awareness, motivation and facilitation of voters Responsive Matdar Sahayata Kendras were set up across the state Comprehensive enrolment drive under special revision ahead of the elections with focus on youth (18-19yrs) and women saw 21,18,128 (5.78 %) new electors More than 80 lakh pledge letters (Sankalp patras) were distributed through children to the electorate asking them to sign and pledge to vote in polls IT related interventions including Polling Stations on Google maps, name search facility, online registration etc on website along with names and cell phone numbers of officers Outcomes: Peaceful polls with highest ever participation by people in the history of the state Voter turnout stood at 72.02%, huge increase over the turnout of 59.77% in 2007 and 61.55% in 2002 Women turnout at 69.50% has also shown an unprecedented rise against traditional low turnout of women in the State Nearly 2,75,689 postal ballots were received from Polling Personnel and Service Electors, against the 9414 postal ballots received in 2007 elections West Bengal Initiatives: Special initiatives towards Community participation through voters’ education and effective involvement of all stakeholders including Police Commissionerates in urban areas Innovative measures for maximizing capacity building of BLOs through systematic training, development of user-friendly learning material in vernacular language and quiz program Concerted efforts towards cleansing of Rolls by customizing existing software to eliminate common errors, such as duplicate names, invalid age and incongruous gender etc.; special initiatives for data validation Targeted interventions for inclusion with special measures taken towards enrolment of women and youth in Assembly Constituency parts having relatively low representation of women. Outcomes: Youth in 18-19 yrs elector group increased from 0.94 % to 1.64 % in the Rolls during 2012 Gender ratio improved from 905 to 911 Elector-Population ratio increased from 0.62 to 0.64 NATIONAL MEDIA AWARD National Media Award for outstanding Campaign on Voters’ Education and Awareness Zee News - for outstanding campaign on voter awareness during general elections to state legislative assemblies of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab 2012 Special Media Award for the Campaign on Voters’ Education and Awareness Amar Ujala - for sustained campaign on voter awareness during general elections to state legislative assemblies in the state of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab, 2012

NATIONAL AWARDS 2011 DEO Ramabai Nagar, Uttar Pradesh (Shri Mayur Maheshwari) He is being given this award for his innovations in using technology for seamless communication between citizens and election personnel for promoting voter awareness and education. The DEO along with his team developed a technology-based interactive and dynamic system to provide various services for citizens, polling personnel and for digital poll management. SP Bankura, West Bengal (Shri Pranav Kumar) He is being presented this award for ensuring peaceful elections in one of the Maoist infested districts of the state of West Bengal. His meticulous planning in the deployment of central armed police forces emerged as a critical element in ensuring incident free polls. Google Earth and other GIS-based tools were extensively used to ensure quick response to complaints of intimidation obstruction to voters and other emergencies. DEO North West Delhi (Shri Amit Singla) He is being given this award for his innovative measures in overcoming voter apathy. Under his leadership, the official website was innovatively redesigned to make it youth-friendly, which substantially increased voter facilitation and online voter registration. His efforts in involving the youth in larger number in the electoral process deserve special mention. Returning officer for Trichy West Assembly Constituency in Tamil Nadu ( Smt. S. Sangeetha, RDO Trichy) She is being given this award for her exemplary courage in implementing Commission’s recent directions on expenditure monitoring and control of black money. Based on a phone call during odd hours regarding transportation of money in a bus, she rushed to the spot even without minimum security and managed to seize Rs. 5.11 crore kept on top of a bus, which was suspected to be the money for bribing the voters. This action on her part boosted the morale and image of the election machinery and set an example for all officers.