To spread awareness about the importance of ethical voting amongst young voters,Amity University organized a special programme on “Democracy & Ethical Voting” at University Campus today.

Sh.N.P. Singh, IAS, District Magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar; Sh. Ramanuj Singh,City Magistrate along with other Senior Officers from District Authorities including Sh. Dinesh Yadav, SP City, Noida graced the programme with their presence.

During the event, two ‘Nukkad Nataks’ were performed by students of Amity Institute of Social Sciences and Amity Institute of Psychology And Allied Sciences to spread the message of importance of Ethical Voting for a healthy democracy.

Emphasizing on the importance of NOTA (None Of The Above) option in voting process, Sh.N.P. Singh said that elections are held to bring the change in system but some people don’t have consent with the standing candidates, thereby don’t go out to vote. Hence, NOTA option gives the power to express their disapproval.He apprised that NOTA represents the faith of people in Democracy but also shows their dissatisfaction towards the candidate. He pointed that NOTA may not change the outcome of the result, but substantial amount of votes through NOTA reflect the mindset of voters and necessitates reinforcing and reinventing the political party and their selected candidates. Mr. Singh stressed that itis necessary to define ethics in voting process as many believe in feudal ethics. Democracy cannot work with feudal system He averred that democratic values need to be instilled in diverse communities; problems are required to be identified and values to be defined as per scientific temperament.

He called upon the people to make collective wisdom by developing right ethics for creating a better democratic system. Mr. Singh urged to instill democratic values as an important aspect in an individual’s behavioral graph.

During the programme, Mr. N P Singh administered an oath of Ethical Voting to the thousands of students of Amity University.

Sharing his views, Mr. Anand Chauhan, Trustee, RBEF said that it is a great initiative to sensitize the young voters about the importance of participation in the electoral process of one of the world’s biggest Democracy. He stressed that it is important for voters to be educated about the process and other information related to election which will help them cast an enlightened vote.

Addressing the gathering, Dr. (Prof.) Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancellor, Amity University Uttar Pradesh said that we are lucky to be born in a Democratic country as the constitution of India provides Right to Vote to all eligible citizens irrespective of Religion, Caste and Gender to form Government. She pointed out that this most important aspect of democracy will not serve the desired purpose without Ethical Voting. She encouraged the young voters to exercise their power to vote and advised not to get wrongly influenced by anyone for casting the vote.

During the day, a poster making competition was held wherein more than 200 students of Amity participated to encourage young voters to get out and make their vote count.

Five Posters were selected as the Best Posters designed by Ms. Kiranpreet Kaur, Ms. Anima Aggarwal, Ms. Kritika Setia, Ms. Kristal Kwan and Ms. Namrata Verma.