Strong room at SVNIT in Surat
Surat: This year the voter turnout for the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) was higher at 45.51% compared to around 40% in the last election. But going by the population numbers, only 22% of the city’s population voted on Sunday. Considering the city’s estimated population of around 70 lakh less than half 32.88 lakh are registered voters and of them, 15.50 lakh have exercised their franchise.
In 2015, 26.54 lakh voters were registered of which 10.60 lakh had voted. Though there is a rise in numbers of registered voters and total polling, experts say that an entire section of society is being kept out of the democratic process. The voice of a larger part of the population is not being heard in the electoral process. “The estimated population of the city is nearly 70 lakh and it is growing fast. At this juncture with just 22% of the population voting, it becomes a serious issue,” said Kiran Desai, director of Centre for Social Studies (CSS).
SURAT: Centre for Social Studies (CSS) will be coming out with a fact-finding report on the tragic accident on January 19 near Kim crossroad where 15 migrants were crushed by a truck in their sleep.
CSS has formed a fact-finding committee of nine members to identify the reasons that caused the accident and what can be done to prevent such incidents in the future. The committee will make its first report public after preliminary study.
The committee includes Kiran Desai, director of CSS; Hemant Shah, economist; Vipul Pandya, of Bandhkam Mazdoor Sangathan; Krishnakant Chauhan, a social worker; Kirti Patel, retired labour department official; Uttam Parmar, activist; Shantilal Mina and Denis Macwan, both from Prayas Centre for Labour Research and Action; and Sanjay Patel of Aajeevika Bureau.