Meet 102-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, India’s first voter who is urging everyone to vote

Shyam Saran Negi was appointed for polling duty during India’s first election in 1951. He also became the first person to vote in India as he cast his vote from Chini constituency, later named Kinnaur, in Himachal Pradesh.

Tuesday April 23, 2019 , 2 min Read

Known as the world’s largest democracy, India has 900 million eligible voters. But unfortunately, most young Indians don’t cast their votes.

With the 17th Lok Sabha elections now underway, proving to be an inspiration to many is 102-year-old Shyam Saran Negi, who has never failed to cast his vote. A retired government teacher from Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh, Negi has been voting since India’s first General Elections in 1951.

Also read: From avoiding Maoist attacks to hiding in the jungle, the steps this polling team took to ensure people cast their vote

According to a 2014 report, it was stated that out of 814 million people in India, 277 million people didn’t cast their votes. It is indeed a matter of concern, as India witnessed its highest voter turnout only in the 2014 General Elections, which was at 66.38 percent.

On this, Negi’s 53-year-old son Chander Prakash said,

My father was assigned poll duty during the first election of independent India. Back then, he requested to first cast his vote in Chinni, now Kinnaur, and then move to his polling station where he was assigned duty. Fortunately, his request was accepted by the officer concerned and that is how he became the country’s first voter, reports The Logical Indian.

Negi is now appointed as the brand ambassador of Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) campaign by the Election Commission of India.

Also read: Every vote counts: how this electoral team hiked through mountains so that one village’s sole voter could cast her ballot

For his initiative to vote in every election, Negi was honoured during the Election Commission’s diamond jubilee celebration in 2010. Later, during 2014 General Elections, Google released a video featuring him for its ‘Pledge to Vote Campaign’.

In a conversation with IANS, Negi, who will turn 103 this July, said,