In a bid to increase voting percentage during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Dumka, the district administration has come up with a unique initiative, 'Code for Vote', an election hackathon.
This mobile app making contest invites participation from not just Dumka or the State but from engineering colleges and professionals across the country.
Deputy Development Commissioner (DDC) of Dumka, Varun Ranjan said, "Every district makes mobile app for providing information to voters like poll booths, important dates and others. Usually the administration outsources the work to a private agency but we instead converted it into a contest."
The invitation has been sent to all the famous engineering colleges in and outside Jharkhand like IIT Kharagpur, NIT Jamshedpur, BIT Mesra, ISM IIT Dhanbad and others inviting participation. The competition is also open for young IT professionals and start ups.
"The teams have to bring in a working demo of the app and make a presentation on April 10. Based on the features of the app, we will select top three teams and then engage them to make a customised app for the district," Ranjan said.
To participate in the competition, every team can have up to five members, with the winning team getting Rs. 75,000 cash reward, followed by Rs. 50,000 for second and Rs. 25,000 for third position.
Apart from the Hackathon, other steps being taken include launching of a daily bulletin, 'Hello Election', RO hall of fame and comic strips.
Hello Election, which was launched on Friday informs the voters of the day's programme related to elections. "The bulletin will have a voter of the day competition every day in which the voters have to send a photo of themselves with their voter ID card along with an essay of 100 word on the topic 'Matadhikar, Loktantra Ka Adhikar," DDC said.
Ranjan informed that the best entry will be selected every day and the winner will be awarded as the voter of the day.
This apart, RO (returning officer) Hall of Fame Board is another initiative where an exceptional voter's profile is put up every day. These voters include such people who have never missed voting for a single election or voted in adverse situations.
Also, road shows have been made an important aspect for voters' awareness. Ranjan said, "A total of 15 road shows have been scheduled across the district. These shows will be organized at public places like market where people will be quizzed by our team and given rewards."
