Proud kids on 'election duty'

“They blessed me and thanked me,” says 13-year-old Kamal who along with his seniors from school helped the elderly and physically challenged reach polling booths to cast their vote in the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi.

The Class 8 student was among the many volunteers from government schools deployed by the election authority at polling centres in the national capital to help voters. Kamal, one of the youngest in the lot, was stationed at a centre in Uttam Nagar in West Delhi constituency.

For them, it was a proud moment as even though they are not yet 18 years old and eligible to vote, they were part of “election duty”.

“They blessed me and thanked me as I provided them wheelchairs to reach the booth from the polling centre's gate,” said Kamal, who underwent a one-day training held by officials recently on how to help the elderly and people with disabilities.

One could easily spot these volunteers at polling centres as they wore a white coloured T-shirt with the Election Commission’s logo printed on it. “I came here at 7 am and helped many people,” Kamal said.

Rishi Kumar, another volunteer, said like him, many of his classmates were also deployed in different polling centres. In another polling centre in Matiala, Class 12 students Harshita, Shivani and Silky Singh from the Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya felt “proud” to be on “election duty”.

“We came at 6 am. My parents were happy to send me for this duty,” Harshita said. Alok Kumar, a Class 9 student of a government school in Harkesh Nagar who was volunteering at a polling centre in Kalkaji, said, “We helped the elderly by guiding them to wheelchairs, telling people about their polling booths and helping people without voting slips.”

“In the morning, there were long queues but by afternoon the number of people coming to the centre reduced,” Kumar said. Hot weather conditions prevailed in the city throughout the day.

Class 12 students Rashmi and Ankit Ojha volunteering at polling centres at Mandir Marg and Pusp Vihar, respectively, said they performed their responsibilities and were proud to help.