Don’t you think that being an Indian citizen, it is our duty and responsibility to work for the welfare of the country. The question is how? After brainstorming, the first thought that pops up in our mind is enrolling ourselves in a government job. The second one is that we can involve ourselves in our political system and become politicians. But then we immediately realize that for people, especially in general category, fetching government jobs is a catch-22, extremely difficult. The second thought is comparatively easy but who wants a job where you are constantly in the limelight and a single wrong action of yours can ruin your image for the rest of your life.
So, what do we do? How do we do good for our nation? How can we come to power and still be behind the curtain? The answer to all these questions is simple, we vote. What can be a bigger power than this one. When we vote, we have the power to directly chose our leader.
We can easily infer that voting becomes an important exercise for us. With the general elections around the corner, in order to raise awareness amongst the Indian citizens regarding voting, the government has taken an initiative. The Election Commission of India in collaboration with Indian Railways has started four trains on 29th March 2019.
The trains will cover 19 states of our country. The four chosen trains are long distance trains covering northern, eastern, southern and western parts of our country. Kerala Express, Himsagar Express, Howrah Express, and Guwahati Express are the four trains. These trains originate and halt at New Delhi Railway Station. ‘My Vote Matters’ is the slogan of the trains. Important contact details like Voter Helpline number and National Voters’ Service Portal are available in the trains.
- Kerala Express is a daily train covering 3035 Kms in 8 States in 51 hours 10 minutes and has 41 stops. There are 20 stops with the stoppage of 5 minutes or more. Capitals covered by Kerala Express are Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram.
- Himsagar Express is a weekly train covering 3714 Kms in 12 States in 71 hours with 69 stops. There are 29 stops with the stoppage of 5 minutes or more including the last stop. State capitals covered by this train are Thiruvananthapuram, Bhopal, Nizamuddin/New Delhi and Jammu Tawi.
- Howrah Express is a daily train covering 2087 kms in 6 states in 37 hours 35 minutes with 63 stops. There are 19 stops with the stoppage of 5 minutes or more. Capitals covered are Ahmedabad, Raipur and Howrah.
- Guwahati Express is a weekly train covering 3237 kms in 7 states in 67 hours 40 min with 41 stops. There are 23 stops with the stoppage of 5 minutes or more. Capitals covered are Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Patna and Guwahati.
Since the government is taking an initiative to promote voting, we should also take a step forward and exercise our power to vote. Instead of staying back at homes and enjoying the voting day as a leave, let us dedicate ourselves towards the welfare of our country and go out and vote.
