Who We Are
The civil rights movements across the world changed the way we identify ourselves in today's world thus, making voting one of the most important precursors to shaping and reforming our present. With growing violence, poverty, climate change and need for reform in education and sciences; Voting becomes our only weapon in this fight.
Mark Your Presence was founded on the idea that we can create more change in our country if we work together. We are a non- profit and non -partisan organisation. Our aim is to create a positive change by reaching out to the youth and every citizen of the country on relevant issues that we are negligent about.
Our mission is to reach out to the youth of our country and make them aware about the democratic process and the importance of participating in it. We believe that, it's important to make the citizens who are under 18 years of age aware, as they will be the future voters of our country.
We also enrol all the citizens who are above the age of 18 so that they can actively participate in the elections in years to come. We understand that the power of the youth is not only important but also vital in shaping the course of any democracy and therefore having educated, politically aware voter's is crucial for our democracy.
Mark Your Presence has conducted seminars in colleges, which are affiliated with Mumbai University, Symbiosis University, and other private universities. Over the last year, we have registered over 25,000 new voters for the 2019 elections. We have registered voters in the 2019 Lok sabha MP elections, MLA elections in Mumbai and Delhi. Registration is only the first step of our campaign and the goal will be achieved only once we educate students at large about their right to vote and assist them. We have created a voter's manual which will help each individual understand the process of voting which includes the essential things a voter needs to do before he/she goes out to vote , and also educates the voter about his/her constituency and the role of the Member of Parliament, MLA, and Corporator. We not only register new voters but also follow up with the concerned BLO officers whenever there is a problem. On our website, the voters can track their voter ids, check if their name is on the Electoral roll, check their polling stations and also find out detailed information of their nearest election office.
Our Story
Mark Your Presence was founded on the pillars of change and commitment to democracy to bring about a political order that is participatory and progresssive. Chaitanya Prabhu founded the organisation in 2018 as an ode to his 100 year old grandfather’s commitment to practise the right that people of this country lay their lives for. He envisioned an organisation that would remind young people of the journey we as a nation took to make this tryst with democracy as our destiny.
Chaitanya is passionate for the cause of strengthening Indian democracy and sees voting as a way to honour the ones who struggled for that right to vote. Chaitanya's inspiration comes from his grandfather who is 100 years old and has been voting since India gained independence. He believes that if his grandfather can go and vote in every poll so can the youth of India. So, when he learnt that most of his friends do not have a voter ID required to register their vote, the 2O-year-old Chaitanya Prabhu took it upon himself to register his peers on the voters' list. He thought that if educated voters voted in large numbers, our democracy would look much different. This motivated him to consult electoral experts to understand the voter registration process. He identified that while the majority of the population opts for an offline registration process as a common practice, it takes only seven minutes to complete the registration if it is done online.
Learning from his experience, Chaitanya prepared an SOP for a step-by-step registration process for his friends and registered more than 350 voters within a span of three weeks. Taking note of the daily increase in registrations, Chaitanya founded the Mark Your Presence organisation and crowdsourced funds to create a website for MYP before the 2019 general elections in India. The website (www.markyourpresence.org.in) acts as a one stop solution for every voter. Through his website, voters can track their voter identification cards, contact details of their polling station, electoral list, and access guides to educate them about the constituency and role of their elected representatives.
Chaitanya has demonstrated true selflessness in his activities – filling hundreds of voter registration forms; conducting seminars across different slums and universities – whilst balancing his studies in law and competing at national sports tournaments.
Mission
Our mission is to reach out to the youth of our country and enrol all the citizens above the age of 18 so that they can actively participate in the 2022 election and in the election in years to come. The power of the youth is not only important but also vital in shaping the course of any democracy. More than 50 per cent of India’s population is below the age of 25, and more than 65 percent is below the age of 35. Harnessing these young citizens of our county to participate in democratic processes and contribute positively for the development of the Country is an essential requirement. We at Mark your presence are working to make voting more interesting for the youth of India, We run microtragetted voter campaigns which have resulted in increase in voter awareness and voter turnout in the city.
Our Founder, Chaitanya Prabhu has been registering and educating voters since 2018 and reached more than 16000 voters throughout his campaign. He was successful in registering 10,000 voters in the last general elections and assembly elections in India. As a result of his hard work, he created an impact in the life of more than 10,000 young eligible voters by enabling them to cast their informed vote.
Organisation Structure
Mark your presence is a programme that registers young voters and educates them about their right to vote. Our goal is to make registering a continuous activity rather than just an issue that is discussed during elections. We employ cutting-edge technology and creative approaches to increase the number of educated voters in our democracy. We teach and register young voters in institutions, which we refer to as democracy courses in schools and universities.
The organisation is divided into two sections, the first of which is the leadership fellowship and the second of which is the research fellowship. Both sections of the organisation are dedicated to raising voter awareness and improving voter registration and turnout. The team is made up of students that want to help establish a stronger democracy. The team now has twenty-five core members and 480 volunteers. Chaitanya Prabhu, the organisation's founder, is a lawyer who is now earning a master's degree in public policy at Xaviers.
Everyone in the group is a student with a great desire to contribute to the strengthening of Indian democracy. The organisation and its founder, Chaitanya Prabhu, has been awarded by the United Nations India and felicitated by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for his contributions to youth empowerment. This year, the organisation and its founder was also honoured with the Diana International Award, the greatest honour given for humanitarian efforts. The award was founded in honour of Diana, Princess of Wales, and is given out by the charity of the same name, which has the backing of both of her sons, the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex.
Some of our work entails
● Setting up Electoral literacy club in colleges
● City level registration with NSS
● Rotaract level registration for all rotaract clubs in Mumbai.
● Convincing young individuals to register to vote through social media
● Register young individuals and convert them into educated voters.
● Art campaign to create more awareness
● Run Surveys to understand voter problems
● Working on establishing VAF
● Starting a competition for voter registrations amongst Mumbai colleges in Mumbai.
Register voters in 7.30mins
Founder
Chaitanya Prabhu is the founder of Mark Your Presence which is a non-profit and non-political organisation that works towards turning every institution into a voter-friendly campus. Chaitanya Prabhu is the youngest person to have registered 20,000 voters in India. Chaitanya Prabhu is also a Un awardee and has been felicitated by UNDP and the Ministry of youth affairs and sports.
He has been recognised with the highest accolade a young person can achieve for social action or humanitarian efforts – The Diana Award - Established in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, the Award is given out by the charity of the same name and has the support of both her sons, The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex.
Chaitanya Prabhu has been working towards empowering the youth by Registering and Educating voters since 2018 and has successfully helped in the general election, the assembly elections in Maharashtra and Delhi. He wants to build a democracy with Educated voters.
Chaitanya has founded and successfully led campaigns such as She Votes, Rap for Your Rights, Art for Your Rights, the Youth Manifesto, and Mumbai's largest civic awareness competition. Chaitanya Prabhu works with the support of the chief electoral officer and the state election of Maharashtra.
He is a lawyer, Civic rights advocate, Student activist and is pursuing his master's in public policy from Xavier's. He is also a national level athlete. He represents Maharashtra in track and field competitions.