Expenses deter migrant workers from going home for voting

THOUGH the Election Commission of India (ECI) has been actively involved in awareness campaigns to boost poll percentages in the upcoming Lok Sabha election, many north Indian migrant workers in Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts are not keen on going to their native places to cast their votes.

-  N DHAMOTHARAN

The migrants are mostly employed in industries or work as street vendors. Travel expenses and loss of salary or daily wages discourage them from going to home states ahead of the voting day. Shockingly, some workers are not even aware of the forthcoming election dates in their respective states. The sevenphase Lok Sabha election starts on April 19 and ends on June 1.

TNIE spoke to a few north Indian labourers to know if they would be going to their native places to vote in the election. Several labourers replied that they are not interested to go home and cited various reasons, though a few expressed intent to be there for voting.