1. National Consultation on Women’s Participation in the Electoral Process Ashutosh Jindal Chief Electoral Officer, Tripura (18-19 December, 2013, Panth Niwas, Bhubaneswar)

2. Presentation Outline Women Enrolment in Electoral Roll Women participation in the recent Elections

3. Map of the State

4. Sex Ratio of the State 2001 Census 2011 Census 948961 Population according to Census 2001 Census2011 CensusMaleFemaleTotalMaleFemaleTotal 1,642,2251,556,9783,199,2031,799,1651,871,8673,671,032 Literacy rate according to Census 2001 Census2011 CensusMaleFemaleOverallMaleFemaleOverall 81.0264.9173.1992.1883.1587.75 Population, Sex Ratio, Literacy Rate

5. ENROLMENT

6. ElectionMaleFemale Total Elector Assembly Election-2003 1000309 (51.78%) 931411 (48.22%) 1931720 Assembly Election-2008 1038782 (50.97%) 999219 (49.03%) 2038001 Assembly Election-2013 1201209 (50.93%) 1157284 (49.07%) 2358493 Enrollment in the Electoral Roll

7. EPRatio and Gender Ratio 20122013 Elector Population Ratio 611623 Gender Ratio958964

8. Our Initiatives Two key groups needing attention ◦ Married Women ◦ Tribal Women Key initiatives of Tripura Election machinery ◦ Use of tribal haats to tap women electors ◦ Near 100% coverage of electors through educational institutions ◦ Use of electronic media to disseminate SVEEP campaign

9. Key Initiatives Special attention given to Married Women (scrolls in cable TV and newspaper inserts) ◦ Documents related to Change of residence Subtle messaging – use of a tribal face prominently in Hoardings and Banners

10. Key Initiatives Mobile Van for awareness about enrolment ◦ Ensures better communication ◦ Quite useful and effective during Evening hours ◦ Tried in Urban areas first (market complexes)

11. Voter Turnout and Women’s Participation

12. Turnout in AE 2013 General Elections in Feb, 2013 Incident free Election – very peaceful polling Record turnout of 93.61% on 14 th Feb, 2013 Women turnout at polling stations higher than male turnout by 2.21% Voters were waiting patiently in their queues even at 7 p.m. In AE 2008, it was only marginally higher than male turnout

13. Reasons for turnout Highly conscious electorate in Tripura Work done during Summary Revision helped in higher turnouts ◦ Cleaning of Rolls Young voters (18 to 19 years) led the record turnout NVD on 25 th Jan, 2013 helped a lot in motivating young voters, in particular.

14. Key Initiatives Local Cable TV channels used extensively - national icons played 5-6 times in a day on all channels Ethical Voting – video was a great hit ◦ Subtle messaging – role of daughter

15. Photographs on women participation An old women casting her vote during Assembly Elections

16. Photographs on women participation Tribal women standing in queues

17. Photographs on women participation Voting is a festival in Tripura : Women are equally conscious about their voting rights

18. Thanks!