Bhubaneswar: In a bid to create awareness among voters and conduct sensitization drives for the forthcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections which will be held in four-phases in Odisha, the State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has shortlisted six celebrities from the state.
According to reports, singer Rituraj Mohanty, ace sprinter Dutee Chand, para-athlete Jayanti Behera, para shuttler Pramod Bhagat and actors Sivani Sangita and Swaraj Barik are the six persons who have been picked by up by the CEO as ‘State Icons’ to create voting awareness.
Speaking about the development, CEO Surendra Kumar said that the names of the celebrities have been sent to the Election Commission of India for its approval.
The six celebrities were selected during a state-level Systematic Voter’s Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) committee meeting which was held in Bhubaneswar on Monday. Ways and means on how these celebrities can be involved in voter awareness programmes to encourage young and new voters to cast their ballot in the elections were also discussed during the meeting.
This apart, the state Election Commission has also taken several other steps for creating awareness among the voters. It has formed SVEEP committees at 2,908 schools and 665 colleges across the state. Besides, ‘Chunav Pathshalas’ also have been set up in different booths across the state to educate people about the functioning of VVPATs and EVMs.
Sources also informed the CEO is all set to create awareness on different television programmes and radio jingles in Desia, Sambalpuri and Santali languages will be aired. Moreover, folk dances will also be performed at different places ahead of the voting which will be held in the state between April 11 and April 29.
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Ms Kalinga