Voter educators in Taplejung are taking their classes in rice fields and cardamom plantations, as people are busy harvesting and could not be found in their homes these days.

A large number of voting population can be found harvesting crops in their fields these days, Indu Palungwa, a voter educator in Phungling Municipality-8, said.

“If you visit the homes of farming community these days, chances are you will either find locked doors or you will be greeted by children and elderly persons,” she added.

It is a hard day’s work for voter educators visiting people from farm to farm, most of which are situated far away from settlements.

Parbata Ghimire, another volunteer involved in voter education in Saptel Village, said the District Education Office (DEO) had assigned each educator with the task of teaching voting procedure to 687 voters and that they had no alternative than to visit where the voters were, even if that meant walking for hours.

“We don’t have any choice. Most people leave their homes at around five in the morning and they are working in their fields till late afternoon,” she said.

The DEO has mobilised 114 voter educators in eight rural municipalities and one municipality of Taplejung.

Besides mobilising voter educators, the DEO has also been organising mock elections in the district to teach voters how to cast their ballots in the upcoming federal and provincial elections.

On Tuesday, the election body had held such elections in Phungling, the district headquarters, Sirijanga Rural Municipality and Phaktalung Rural.