Mysuru: In order to spread awareness about the importance of voting, Deputy Commissioner Abhiram Sankar inaugurated six selfie points at the Mysuru Zoo here on Sunday, April 7. This is the first instance in the country, where such means to spread awareness on voting is being done in a zoo. Two more selfie points will be set up at the Mysuru Palace and Chamundi Hill Temple respectively.
Speaking after inaugurating the selfie point at the entrance of the zoo, the DC said, “These selfie points have been set up to create awareness about voting. We have installed cutouts of various cartoons, birds and animals. They have been designed to attract the children who will bring the adults along with them. We have also printed information about the C Vigil so that the voters can bring any violation of the election code of conduct to our notice. The information printed on these cutouts is in English as well as in Kannada. This way, we will create awareness among localities as well as people from other states.”
Executive Director of the Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens (Mysuru Zoo), Ajit Kulkarni said, “Selfie points have been set up at the entrance of the zoo, elephant enclosure, food court and at two prominent places at the Karanji Lake. Every day an average of 6,000 to 7,000 people visit Mysuru from different places. This is a message to the people that a vote will not only help them but also the society and even animals and birds.”
Praveen, a tourist from Chennai said, “This is a good initiative by the district election authorities, but they could have done much better. The cutouts could have been made more attractive by making them bigger. But I appreciate the concern of the district authorities.” Praveen and his family members didn’t miss the opportunity to take selfies in the cutout set up at the entrance of the zoo.
Yakshagana at Mysuru Palace
“To attract voters, the district election authorities under SVEEP have also decided to put up a Yakshagana performance at the Mysuru Palace along with a selfie point at the Chamundi Hill Temple. With these methods, the district administration hopes to increase the voting percentage from 65 percent from the previous Lok Sabha elections to 75 or 80 percent,” said ZP CEO, K Jyothi, who is also in charge of SVEEP-related activities.
