New Delhi:

They cross glaciers, lug electronic voting machines up mountains on their backs, and work in dangerous areas to ensure every last person can cast their ballot in the world’s largest democracy. Polling booth workers have, fittingly, been honoured with the title of NTDV’s Indian Of The Year in the 2024 edition of the network’s marquee event.

Receiving the award on behalf of the polling booth workers were Radha, a poll worker from the Velachery Assembly segment in South Chennai, Antiya Minz, a booth-level officer from Palamu in Jharkhand, Rahila Rafique from Khansahib Assembly constituency in Jammu and Kashmir, Suraj Singh, presiding officer from Losain in Jammu and Kashmir, T Rama Rao, presiding officer from a booth in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Tikaish Kumar Sahu, presiding officer from Kanker district in Chhattisgarh and Chelo Lima, presiding officer from Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh. The representatives included a transgender polling officer. 

Speaking about the challenges that polling workers face while organising elections, Mr Sahu, who was working in Kanker district in Chhattisgarh said they trekked through dense jungles and had Maoist drones hovering above them.

“Conducting elections in our polling booth is fairly challenging. We had to leave home three days before the elections and were dropped to a Border Security Force (BSF) camp in a helicopter. We then had to trudge through dense jungles for 5 km to reach the booth. When we were walking to the booth, we could see Maoist drones observing us from above. But we had security cover and we managed to conduct the election successfully, registering a voter turnout of 71 per cent,” he said. 

Antiya Minz from Palamu in Jharkhand, who also helped conduct elections in an area affected by Maoist violence, said she and her colleagues spent a lot of time educating villagers about the importance of their right to vote. 

“We had to travel 20 km to reach the booth and cross streams using all available means, including tractors,” she said. 

Boats, Helping Tribals

Presiding Officer T Rama Rao from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and his colleagues had to use a boat to get to their polling station in Dugong Creek. 

“We face challenging terrain and it is difficult to reach polling booths but the administration and the Election Commission helped us. The area is home to the particularly vulnerable Onge tribe. I already worked as a teacher in a school in the area and the administration and tribal welfare department helped us reach every tribe. They don’t have much experience casting votes because they only do so for general elections. Voting using EVMs is also a tough task for them. But we saw a voter turnout of 94%,” he said.

‘Inclusion Key To Democracy’

Transgender polling officer M Radha from Chennai said inclusion is key to a successful democracy and that she has been working to ensure that more transgender voters exercise their right.

“The Constitution provides equal voting rights to all and the inclusion of transgender voters has become the need of the hour,” she said

Suraj Singh was part of a polling party that had to trek 17 km to get to their booth in Jammu and Kashmir’s Losain, crossing forests and glaciers. 

“We had to cross glaciers and pass through areas with sliding zones and shooting stones. Snow was falling and there was no electricity in our booth. Language was also a challenge, but we still managed to conduct polling successfully,” Mr Singh said. 

Amid global turmoil and geopolitical tensions, the world has hopes from India and one of the key reasons for this is the country’s growth story, which is based on four pillars that have been the focus for PM Narendra Modi, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said.

Delivering the keynote address at the NDTV Indian Of The Year on Friday, Mr Vaishnaw – who holds the Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and Information Technology portfolios – also said that more bank accounts have been opened in India than the entire population of Europe. 

Beginning his address, Mr Vaishnaw appreciated NDTV for recognising people who don’t normally feature on screens and don’t make headlines. 

Speaking about global geopolitical and technological changes, he said the Western world and the rich countries took on a debt of $9 trillion – “unprecedented in the history of human beings” –  during the Covid period alone, and the effects of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are being felt in every aspect of life. 

On geopolitical shifts, he said that the economic centre of gravity is shifting towards Asia, which has generated a lot of friction between countries that have been financial leaders for a century or more. 

“So if you look at these factors together, the world is in a state of turmoil, in a sense. Two wars are on, we have seen supply chain disruptions… Amid all this, if there is one country that the world has hope from, it is India. It is not a coincidence that we are growing at a sustained rate of 6-8%. PM Modi’s considered thought process and a clearly laid out plan is behind our consistent growth and moderate inflation,” Mr Vaiishnaw said.

“If we analyse this growth and statements like the International Monetary Fund saying ‘India is the only bright spot’, four key factors are behind this. PM Modi’s economic thinking, social thinking and political strategy rest on four pillars – massive public investments in social, physical and digital infrastructure; big focus on manufacturing and innovation; inclusive growth; and simplification,” he emphasised.  

Airports Doubled, Rail Network Addition

Elaborating on the first pillar of investments, Mr Vaishnaw said India’s capital expenditure has grown from roughly Rs 3.5 lakh crore 10 years ago to Rs 11 lakh crore in the current fiscal, which is “humongous and unheard of in Independent India”.

“This is leading to productivity improvement and employment growth in practically every sector. Airports have doubled and 31,000 km of railway lines have been constructed, which is more than Germany’s entire network. In the last year alone, 5,300 km of railway lines have been built, more than the network of Switzerland. AIIMS and IITs have also been doubled in the past ten years,” he pointed out.

Speaking about the democratisation of e-payments and how even street vendors use them, the minister cited an example and said he was asked by a man from “one of the richest countries” at an international forum since India has moved so far ahead, when does it plan to do something for other nations that have been left behind.

“So, the feeling now is that India is a leader in several fields of technology, unlike the past, when it used to be a follower,” he said.

‘Unimaginable Tasks Made Possible’

On innovation and manufacturing, the minister said India has 1.2 lakh startups, up from 300-400 ten years ago, and over 100 unicorns, which make the country one of the world’s top three startup ecosystems. The ‘Make In India’ scheme, he said, has impacted everything from the engineering goods sector to the defence sector.

The third pillar of inclusive growth, Mr Vaishnaw, said was very important to address the economic inequality that arose because of the policies which were followed for 50-60 years. He said PM Modi made inclusive growth an integral part of every policy and this benefited everyone, especially those at the bottom of the pyramid.

“As many as 54 crore bank accounts were opened, half of which are held by women. The number is significant because the entire population of Europe is 45 crore. So, bringing a population that is higher than the population of Europe into the banking system was an unimaginable task, but it was made possible. Nearly 4 crore people have got new houses and the cooking habits of 11 crore people have changed to gas — the entire population of Japan is 11 crore, Germany’s population is 8 crore. The PM’s inclusive policies have benefited more people than the population of many countries,” he said.

Focus On Simplification

Simplification, the Railways Minister, said was brought about by policies like getting rid of colonial laws that have no relevance now. 

“India’s telecom sector was regulated using a law from 1885 – the Telegraph Act. As many as 1,500 laws have been removed from the statute books. New laws have been made. Steps were also taken towards compliance reduction – for instance, getting permissions for a telecom tower earlier took 217 days on average, which has been reduced to seven days because of a reform brought in by PM Modi in 2021. Even among these, 89% are such that you get the permissions the moment you press the ‘Enter’ button,” he said. 

Mr Vaishnaw said the scale and scope of work has expanded and PM Modi is focused on the poor and the middle class.

“Because of all this, we can say with a high degree of confidence that India will continue to grow at 6-8% real growth, 10-14% nominal growth and a very moderate inflation for the coming five years. That’s the reason why when there is anti-incumbency across the world, a vibrant and vocal democracy like India has elected a government and a Prime Minister for three consecutive terms for the first time. This is because people have seen a change and transformation in their lives, which is a feeling that will also be reflected in the NDTV Indian Of The Year awards,” he said. 

NDTV will today present the ‘Indian Of The Year’ awards that acknowledge distinguished visionaries, political figures, sports icons, and entertainers who have not only fortified the pillars of our society but have also contributed to the development of India

These awards honour individuals who have displayed foresight embraced uniqueness, and redefined the essence of ‘being a true Indian’. The aim of the initiative is to honour exceptional Indians from various fields. The awards recognise those who have thought ahead, dared to be different and redefined the meaning of ‘being a true Indian’.

Here are the live updates from NDTV Indian of the Year Awards:

NDTV’s Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia On Significance Of ‘Indian Of The Year’ Awards

NDTV’s Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia (@sanjaypugalia) speaks about the significance of the NDTV’s biggest award show, selection process and more

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– NDTV (@ndtv) December 6, 2024

NDTV’s Senior Managing Editor Vaishali Sood On The Process Behind ‘NDTV Indian Of The Year Award’
NDTV’s Senior Managing Editor Vaishali Sood gives an insight about the exhaustive process of ‘NDTV Indian Of The Year Award’ to our Executive Editor Marya Shakil.

NDTV’s Senior Managing Editor Vaishali Sood (@vaishalisood) gives an insight about the exhaustive process of #NDTVIndianOfTheYearAward to our Executive Editor Marya Shakil (@maryashakil)

Presenting Sponsor: RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group
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A look at the previous awardees. Whose picture will go up on the wall next?

Daring, trailblazing and relentless: Saluting the icons of greatness

Catch NDTV Indian of the Year only on NDTV Network, 3 PM Onwards