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Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation program, better known as SVEEP [1], is the Election Commission of India’s [2] flagship program for voter education, spreading voter awareness and promoting voter literacy in India. ^[1] SVEEP’s primary goal is to build a truly participative democracy in India by encouraging all eligible citizens to vote and make an informed decision during the elections. Started in 2009, it works towards preparing India’s elector and equipping them with basic knowledge related to the electoral process.

Although, every Elections in India observes an increase in electors and voters, as per the last Indian General Election, 2014 the voter turnout was limited to 66.4% ^[2] that more than 33% electors had not participated in the elections. This number does not account for the huge chunk of citizens who were not even registered as electors. Under the Constitution of India, Universal Adult Suffrage is a constitutional obligation impressed upon the ECI, and therefore the Commission launched SVEEP to fulfill this constitutional obligation. Universal Adult Suffrage means each and every person above the age of 18 from all sections of society is enabled to participate.

History

SVEEP [3] began with the introduction of planned IEC (Information, Education, and Communication) interventions in the Jharkhand elections of end-2009. It was carried forward more systematically in subsequent elections. Since the introduction of the programme, elections to the State Assemblies of 23 States took place till December 2013 ( Jharkhand – 2009; Bihar – 2010; Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, West Bengal, Puducherry – 2011; Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat – 2012; Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Karnataka, Delhi, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan – 2013).

The second phase of SVEEP, SVEEP-II, was rolled out from 2013, based on the learnings of Phase-I. The program has evolved with every election. Innovative practices that bore results got integrated in the program as policy directive. Best practices were shared with States and Union Territories and implemented in the Lok Sabha Elections that were held in 2014.

Mission

The mission for the voter education program of the Election Commission of India is to increase the electoral participation, promote qualitative participation in terms of ethical and informed voting and provide continuous electoral and democracy education with the help of partners and stakeholders.

SVEEP aims to –

• Increase electoral participation through voter registration and turnout
• Increase qualitative participation in terms of ethical and informed voting
• Provide continuous electoral and democracy education

Structure

National SVEEP plans and strategies are prepared by the Election Commission of India and implemented by various State Elections through their network of Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) and District Election Officers (DEOs). All implemented interventions are documented and submitted to the Election Commission of India.

Target Groups

SVEEP adopts a ‘triangular approach’ in which its campaigns targets those who conduct elections, those who contest elections and those who vote, i.e. election personnel, political parties, and voters. ^[3] Among the voters, SVEEP focuses its efforts on the following primary target groups taking in consideration various social, economic and cultural profile of its democracy –

• Woman – Ranking 87 in the Global Gender Gap Report ^[4], India is a patriarchal society where women emancipation is still an ongoing process and many women are barred from exercising their franchise during elections. In addition to this there exists the problem of doubly marginalized categories of women such as migrants, tribal women, women in far-flung and conflict-ridden areas especially those in difficult terrains. There also exists a gender bias in the use of communication technology. There is an observed lack of political and electoral awareness amongst women. ^[5]

• Youth - Migrants, school dropouts and workforce in un-organised sectors, both in urban and rural areas, often lack the required documents to register as voters. The Indian youth is apathetic especially in urban areas. This apathy arises from information gap on the electoral process, political representativeness, manifestos of political parties and the work being undertaken by political representatives in their areas. A significant population lives in media dark places where the penetration of even traditional media like radio is low. ^[6]

• Persons with Disability – Officials of the electoral machinery have to be sensitized about the special needs of the persons with disabilities. With PwDs, accessibility is the primary concern. In the past couple of years efforts have been made to make the polling stations more accessible for disabled voters. PwDs too have to be motivated to turn up to vote. ^[7]

• Service Voters – Due to continuous posting across the country, service voters, which include members of the Indian Armed Forces, do not have a permanent address making it difficult for them to vote. Postal Ballots were introduced to solve their problem however, most are returned in large numbers without being delivered. Measures are being undertaken to make the postal ballots reach the service voters in time. Registration of spouse of female service personnel is not allowed as a service elector and an amendment in this regard was proposed by ECI in 2011. IT applications are being explored to simplify the registration process and updating database. Recently the ETPBS has been introduced by the commission for the convenience of service voters. ^[8]

• Migrants – India is a country on the move. Human migration & change of address is a continuous process as citizens are forever shifting residence for education, marriage, in the search of better opportunities, better quality of life etc. The shift can be from one State to another, from village to town, town to metropolis or within the same urban centre for reasons of housing. This poses a difficulty in the registration process with more and more people failing to re-register with their new address and deleting their names from the electoral roll of their previous Assembly Constituency. ^[9]

• Overseas Electors (NRI Voters) – Registration and voting by Non-resident Indian Voters is extremely limited. With the Government of India exploring methods to facilitate their participation in elections from abroad, it is all the more important to start the process of engagement of NRIs. The Commission has looked into the provision of one-way e-postal ballots for NRI voters. ^[10]

• Senior Citizens – Senior Citizens too have special needs which, when not fulfilled, hinders their participation in the elections. Facilitating senior citizens to enhance their participation in the electoral process shall be taken up on a sustained basis and the election machinery sensitized about the special needs of senior citizens. ^[11]

• Other Marginalized Groups – These include tribal, Transgenders, Sex Workers, Homeless and other groups of people in difficult situations. A major issue around the marginalised groups is that of the society in general being ignorant or even intolerant towards them creating inhibition within these groups to exercise their franchise. Thus apart from facilitation and encouragement of marginalized groups, sensitization of the society as a whole is required. ^[12]

KABBP Surveys and Strategy

The SVEEP program plans its interventions on the basis of scientific research results. This research is carried out in the form of Knowledge, Attitude, Belief, Behavior & Practices (KABBP) surveys. Following this survey, problems regarding lack of participation (decision making) of people are identified by analysing lowest voter turnout polling stations, gender gap, gaps in registration, gaps in turnout, gaps and reasons for urban and youth apathy and identification of groups and communities that have recorded lowest participation is carried out.

Multiple interventions are planned keeping in mind various target groups which form the State and National level SVEEP plans. The Election Commission of India has partnered and collaborated with a number of institutions and organisation to ensure maximum reach in its voter education and participation program. Various Educational Institutions, Government Departments, Youth Organisations like Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, National Service Scheme & National Cadet Corps (India), Media Houses, Civil Society Organisations/ Non-governmental organizations, Corporates & PSUs are all partners in the SVEEP program which also includes renowned individuals appointed as National & State Icons such as Aamir Khan, Virat Kohli, Mary Kom, MS Dhoni amongst others.

SVEEP plan implementation follows the rules of targeted intervention and executes programs specific to various identified key target groups.

SVEEP Phases

In the past six years, ECI’s decision to adopt a sustained and systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation strategy to increase people’s participation in the electoral process got reflected in a range of policy initiatives, programs and activities, which has evolved in the three SVEEP phases.

SVEEP I

The seed of SVEEP was born out of managerial underlining of the gaps in registration of citizens as voters and the more glaring gap in turnout from election to election. In India, the turnout had historically stagnated around 55-60 percent, thus leaving out the choices of millions of eligible citizens. This identification was followed by the intellectual understanding that low participation could adversely impact the quality of democracy and there was a need for management interventions to address this problem. There was a small experimental beginning under the banner of IEC activities in 2009, which was subsequently revamped in 2010 and given its present name. This phase spread broadly from end 2009 to March 2013, and covered 17 State Assembly elections in India and three revisions of the Electoral Roll in varying geographies, levels of urbanization, literacy, security and logistics issues. ^[13]

SVEEP II

Carrying forward and strengthening the initiatives of SVEEP I, this phase of SVEEP involved a planned strategy for a targeted approach towards meeting the various gaps. There was a structured framework including steps like polling station-wise situation analysis, planning of interventions and implementation, followed by review and evaluation at regular intervals for the entire period. It also included content development for neo-literate and non-literate groups. There was a pronounced emphasis on supply side of SVEEP, particularly in developing facilities at polling stations and on the polling day. The Indian general election, 2014 have been a major landmark in the history and learning of SVEEP as it also happened to be the focus of SVEEP II. Besides the Lok Sabha elections, it covered ten General Elections to State Assemblies. ^[14]

SVEEP III

After drawing learnings from the historic General Elections to the Lok Sabha 2014, a more robust and in-depth plan is being undertaken for the next phase of SVEEP. Enhanced interaction with the citizens through social media, online contests and voters’ festivals; awareness about new initiatives of linking EPIC ( Voter ID (India)) with Aadhaar and National Voters’ Service Portal [4]; a regularised yearly plan of activities form a part of this phase. In addition to target groups of women, youth, urban voters and the marginalised sections, inclusion of groups like service voters, NRIs, persons with disabilities, prospective voters/ students is of primary focus. Greater synergy with partners, micro surveys, integration of electoral education with academic curriculum are other key to SVEEP III plans. ^[15]

References