To generate awareness about the upcoming elections and educate people on the importance of exercising their franchise, Dhanbad sub-divisional officer (SDO) Raj Maheshwaram flagged off 50 auto-rickshaws with promotional posters from Court Road on Sunday.

The ceremonial campaign, which saw the presence of members of several auto drivers’ associations, was part of the ongoing voter awareness programme titled Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation, which kicked off last week.

The SDO also held a meeting with auto drivers.

Maheshwaram said, “Besides ferrying passengers from one place to another, the autos will now spread awareness on elections.”

Maheshwaram further said they would organise street plays with the help of different cultural outfits across the district.

Shedding light on the different awareness measures to be undertaken, the SDO said, “We have approached various banks and plan to paste promotional stickers on new passbooks.”

The SDO further said they would organise a wide array of competitions like quiz, speech, elocution and essay writing among schoolchildren.

“All the contests will be based on the theme of elections. Children will be made aware on the importance of casting votes and in turn they will be able to motivate their parents,” he added.

“We also interacted with various physically-challenged persons last week and sought their support to help us spread awareness on elections,” said Maheshwaram, adding they also planned to contact different outfits like Dhanbad Builder Association and Federation of Dhanbad Zilla Chamber of Commerce to make the campaign a successful affair.