Pre-elections voters' awareness campaign in Rajasthan: a journey

This article focuses on a pre-election voters' awareness campaign carried out by the Participatory Research Institute of Asia (PRIA) and 'Unnati' in Rajasthan, India. A change in the constitution reserves seats in local government bodies (Panchayat Raj institutions) for women and minority ethnic groups. However, at times, many of these newly elected representatives are unaware of their duties and responsibilities, such that these are taken over by their spouses or male members of the family. The campaign focused on women and minorities as well as other citizens in general. It aimed to make them aware of their duties and responsibilities, citizens' rights, how to vote and how to choose good leaders. A variety of traditional forms of popular communications was used, such as puppet shows, song, dance, music and processions. These are forms of communication related to folk culture and scripts are based on local dialect and village realities. Video was also used. The author shares his personal experiences in the campaign, the challenges, risks, hopes and aspirations. The different media, street plays, puppet shows, video, posters, pamphlets, song and dance etc. drew on real stories of the people, all helping to provide space for the voices of women and the weaker sections of communities in the process.