The authorities in Jammu and Kashmir have set up voter awareness camps for the army personnel in order to reduce the number of invalid votes.
The first of its kind initiative named 'Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation Plan (SVEEP)', starting prior to the assembly polls in the state, will help the army personnel in getting proper information about the procedure of postal ballot.
The District Magistrate of Leh, Simrandeep Singh Gill, told the media that similar camps have previously been organised for civilians during the elections, but it is for the first time for the army personnel.
Training sessions have been conducted at Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre and a regiment of Ladakh Scouts in Leh.
"We have started a training session for postal ballot service voters in Ladakh. We will train them through presentations on election and appeal to them not to just cast vote but do it in an appropriate way and fill the form accurately so that on the day of counting, their vote gets counted and not rejected. So far, we have trained around 1200 soldiers," said Gill, who is also the District Electoral Officer.
The initiative will help the army personnel, who make up around 5000 postal ballots, make their vote counted, the positive result of which will be seen in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls.