In a first of its kind experiment in the country, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Andhra Pradesh tonight signed MoUs with three universities and two civil society organisations making them partners for encouraging people's participation.

The MoUs were signed by CEO I V Subba Rao, in the presence of Election Commissioner V S Sampath, with Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University at Anantapur, Mahatma Gandhi University at Nalgonda, Acharya Nagarjuna University in Guntur and NGOs 'Let's Vote' and United Federation of Resident Welfare Associations.

As per the MoU, the universities would set up a core group of faculty members, encourage the formation of students' clubs, assist the CEO for enhancing the participation of students in issues voter enrolment and voter awareness programmes.

The CEO would, in turn, provide the required support and facilitation by instructing district collectors to forward the applications received from the university to the concerned Electoral Registration Officers.

The civil society organizations would assist the CEO in taking up voter awareness programmes and electoral registration process.

They would also assist the residents to register as voters and nominate volunteers to help the official machinery to locate and man the voters facilitation centres.

The CEO would provide the copies of electoral rolls and other latest information on electoral processes regularly to the RWAs for wider dissemination.

The Election Commission would terminate the partnership if it is found that the RWAs have acted in a partisan manner.

Hailing the initiative, Sampath told PTI that it is for the first time that such a model is being done anywhere in the country 'on this scale'.

It will be replicated elsewhere in the country whereever good institutions came forward, he said.

"This will be for the better. We would expect greater people?s participation in election process with this," he said.