District Election Officer K.S. Kandasamy on Monday approached Kanniyappan of Maruthadu village in Vandavasi taluk, in Tiruvannamalai district, an 85-year-old bonded labourer, to brief him on the importance of voting and to teach him how to cast his vote.
The woodcutter has been a bonded labourer since childhood and was spotted by an NGO, before being rescued.
He was among the 50 people rescued by the Revenue Department officials from Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts two years ago.
14.45 lakh voters
Hailing from the Irula community, he and his family had worked in charcoal units also. Kanniyappan’s daughter Karupayee, 60, her sons Babu, 33, and Prabhu, 20, and daughters-in-law will also be among the 14.45-lakh voters in the Arni Lok Sabha constituency, thanks to the efforts taken by the election department officials, who enrolled them and provided with electoral photo identity cards.
He and his family members were taught about casting their votes using electronic voting machines, which they had never heard about.