Lok Sabha elections: Hackathon to increase voting by Hyderabad techies

HYDERABAD: Since a large number of techies skipped voting in the 2018 Assembly election, the Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA) in a bid to increase voting among the techies has launched ‘political hackathon’ and an ‘ungli campaign’ (showing an inked finger).
Nearly 60% of the IT employees working in the city have local election cards but these have been largely used only as address proof.
Hyderabad saw only 50% voting in Assembly polls. “Voting in places where software engineers reside had saw only 32% voting which is why we have launched the political hackathon campaign to involve techies in spreading awareness about the importance of voting. The hackathon also allows them to voice issues they face and come up with solutions,” said TITA president Sundeep Kumar Makthala.
The first political hackathon was held last week in several IT companies in the city and few more political hackathons are lined up.
Interestingly, most techies suggest that voting should go to the online platform. Organizers say, more knowledge in national politics would help techies to be more involved.