SAMBALPUR: To review election preparedness, the Sambalpur administration organised a meeting regarding Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) activities at the Collectorate Conference Hall on Thursday.
Held under the chairmanship of collector Akshay Sunil Aggarwal, the meeting was attended by president/secretary of private bus owners association, hoteliers association, petrol pump owners association, merchants association, store managers and several other franchise business outlets.
In the meeting, Aggarwal urged all to consider voting day as a ‘Kartavaya Dina’ instead of a holiday. He requested all the members of different institutions present in the meeting to install voter mascots, ‘voter dada’ and ‘voter nani’ (a SVEEP totem designed in traditional Sambalpuri attires) selfie points, display animated videos of the mascots, play Sambalpuri election jingle at their institutions and encourage citizens to vote. He also urged them to provide some incentive to people who would visit their outlet for voting.
The collector further instructed to put a QR code on the posters of election mascots so that citizens could scan them and know more about the voting process and information related to facilities available to them.
Discussions were also held on reducing urban apathy and promoting voting awareness through branding, advertisements, and posters to encourage electors to become voters. Creative ideas as well as feedback from the members of various institutions were shared during the meeting.