Football competition and umbrella rally organized under SVEEP in Balrampur-Ramanujganj district registered in the Golden Book of World Records

Voting plays a vital role in a democratic country. Voting is more than a civic duty for citizens in a democracy. Each vote of a citizen of a country through the right to vote plays a vital role in shaping the future of that country and influences the policies that are made for the welfare of the people. Voting determines the direction of the nation and ensures a government that recognizes the alternative viewpoints and aspirations of the general public. Voting gives people the right to have a say in decisions that affect their lives. It is important to motivate people to vote to have a say in the decisions taken about the country and the voting process is one of the most important ways to do this. Voter awareness campaigns are important to increase awareness about the voting process encourage people to participate in the electoral process, to motivate more people to participate in our democracy and vote.

With the aim of a cent per cent voting in the Lok Sabha elections, efforts are being made to make voters aware by organizing several campaigns and activities across the country under SVEEP. In the Balrampur-Ramanujganj district of Chhattisgarh, under the guidance of District Collector and District Election Officer Mr. Remegeus Ekka (IAS) and the able leadership of District Panchayat CEO Mrs. Rena Jamil (CEO, Zila Panchayat), several activities were organized across the district for voter awareness. This included many activities like football competitions, umbrella rallies, calling voters living outside and inviting them to vote. During the umbrella rally, hundreds of women set a world record by taking out a rally with attractive and colourful umbrellas, which was recorded as a world record in the Golden Book of World Records with the title of “Largest Umbrella Rally”. Under this programme, a football competition was organised simultaneously in all the gram panchayats of the district in which 936 teams took part. As the maximum number of teams participated in the football competition, this competition organised under Sweep was registered as a world record with the title of “Most Team Participated in Football Tournament”. The provisional certificate of the world record was presented to the District Collector by the representative of the Golden Book of World Records, Mrs. Sonal Rajesh Sharma (GBWR) during a programme organised at the district headquarters.

Expressing happiness over the establishment of the world record and addressing the program, Collector and District Election Officer Shri Remigius Ekka said that various programs were organized to increase the voting percentage of the district under SWEEP. In which people of all classes participated with great enthusiasm. The participation of women in these programs was commendable. He said that the purpose of all these programs is that the maximum number of people come to the polling booth to vote. During this program, the Chief Executive Officer of District Panchayat Mrs. Rena Jameel, District CEO Mr. Ranveer Sai, other administrative officers of the district, employees as well as a large number of women and common citizens were present.

During the Assembly Elections 2023, under the guidance of Collector Shri Remigius Ekka Ji, under the SVEEP program, voters of different age groups formed a huge human chain at Gaurlata, the highest peak of Chhattisgarh, and gave the message of voting. In this voter awareness campaign, 14 thousand 703 voters of the district created the largest human chain and set a world record, which was registered in the Golden Book of World Records with the title of “Largest Vertical Human Chain“.