For three years, Egyptian youth planned their revolt. They colluded with Serbian revolutionaries who were students when they ousted Slobodan Milosovich. Finally, they successfully wrought the first rungs to change, and in doing so, inspired many others. For years, India’s citizens have dealt with inept governance. At Know Your Vote, we’ve been planning and now, it is time for us to act.
What India needs is not the same as what Egypt needed. We have what Egypt did not. As the largest democracy in the world, we can effect change by exercising our rights. Rather, our fundamental right – the right to vote. Corruption, family politics, inefficient bureaucracy, and self-serving politicians are only some of the issues that plague Indian society. In the aftermath of scandal after scandal lies opportunity and it is precisely this opportunity that we at Know Your Vote intend to exploit. The first step we’ve taken is to set up a corruption tracker on our Facebook page. When you experience corruption in your day-to-day life, log on and report it. Just click on ‘Corruption Tracker‘, and enter your information. We’ll use your experiences to compile data we can use about the proliferation of corruption.
As students, we are in the best position to – in short – raise hell. We have education at our disposal; we are placed at the forefront of civil discourse. We want college students to get involved and make a difference, and it’s our onus to facilitate that. Whether it is traffic, voting cards, corruption, policy, or national security, your voice makes a difference, and the more voices we have, the louder we shout. Find us on Facebook, like our page, and join the movement. We’ll be planning events, petitioning officials, and starting chapters at your college – but we need your help. Join our online discussions, post any questions you have and our team will be there to answer them. We want civic awareness, we want to get rid of apathy and hopelessness, and we want you to have your way.
Know Your Vote is an organization that wants you to know your rights, and be able to use them to affect change in the issues you care about.
It’s too easy to sit back and complain, it’s too convenient to act as though you can’t make a difference. We’re here to change that. We’re here to make noise and to be heard.
– The Know Your Vote Team
