Two organizations, the Wake Up Bandra Foundation and the Khar Residents Association, have decided to jointly start a dedicated helpline for voter queries. The numbers (see box) will become operational on October 1, Wednesday, and will be functional during 10am-8pm. The next day is Gandhi Jayanti, and if people club it with Dussehra, they will get an extended weekend, which the organizations hope will give them the leisure to think about voting queries.
Wake Up Bandra's Derick Talker said the foundation has made continuous efforts to ensure a large turnout of voters and the helpline will assist the process much better by making things simple. "Eight people would answer voters' calls on the helpline and they will be ready with any poll-related information."
The helpline was functional during the Lok Sabha elections as well and got a large number of queries, said Anandini Thakoor, managing trustee of the Khar Residents Association. She said the body also plans to hire 60 college students, who would check with residents if their names appear on electoral rolls. "The students will go from building to building in Bandra, Khar and Santacruz. They will also check if the names of dead voters continue to be on the rolls. Also, we will keep five cars on voting day to ferry senior citizens, the physically challenged or the sick to polling booths."
Many a time, because names on the rolls are spelt differently, voters are not able to find them—say online before voting day—said Thakoor. "We want to assist people in this regard."
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