Country-wide voter awareness campaign starts

Agartala, March 18 (IANS) The information and broadcasting ministry will organise exhibitions in 480 locations across the country as part of its voter awareness campaign, an official said here Tuesday.

The first such three-day exhibition was inaugurated here Tuesday by Tripura Chief Electoral Officer Asutosh Jindal.

"The exhibitions are being organised following the advice of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to make the voters aware about the nitty-gritty of the elections and its history," an official of the ministry told reporters.

The exhibitions will be organised by the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity.

Besides Agartala, three more exhibitions would be held in three district headquarters of Tripura before April 7, when polling would be held in one (West Tripura) of the two Lok Sabha constituencies in the north eastern state.

The official said the exhibitions, each of which is a three-day programme, are being organised in association with the state election departments, photo division of the information and broadcasting ministry and National Literacy Mission.

He said the exhibition is part of the ECI's programme -- systematic voters' education and electoral participation.

The focus of the exhibition would be on voting, duty and responsibility of the voters and advisory on Dos and Don'ts. The exhibition panels would highlight various moods and pattern of the voting process found in several geographical areas and communities through pictorial manifestation.

Alongside the exhibitions, officials from the election departments would demonstrate the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).