To create awareness among voters, 8-km long 'rangoli' created in Assam

Silchar, Mar 15: Aimed at creating awareness among voters, an eight kilometre-long 'rangoli', perhaps the longest for such an initiative, has been created on a street of this Barak valley town ahead of the three-phased assembly elections in Assam.

Conceptualised by a young IAS officer, Keerthi Jalli, who is the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar district, around 3,000 people, including students, youths and women, participated in the 'rangoli' making event. The process to make the 8.13 kilometre-long 'rangoli' on a picturesque street of Silchar was started on Sunday morning and completed within 24 hours.

"The main objective of making the 'rangoli' is to create awareness among people about participating in our democratic process. People have spontaneously taken part in the event," Jalli told reporters.

'Rangoli' is usually drawn on a floor or a road using rice flour, chalk, fine quartz powder, flower petals, grains or other natural materials. Jalli said as per the available information, the record for drawing the longest 'rangoli' in India is four kilometres, even though her initiative is not to break any record but to create awareness among voters.

People from a cross sections of the society, college, university students, teachers, tea garden workers, government employees, police officers, army personnel and the deputy commissioner herself took part in the 'rangoli'-making exercise.

"The art is age-less. So naturally people of all ages have participated in the 'rangoli' making exercise," Jalli said. The Cachar district administration has also come out with a mascot -- Misti-- a young girl who appeals to the elders to vote in the elections so that her future becomes bright -- as part of the Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) campaign.

A mega campaign is also being launched with the theme of 'Nari Shakti' so that the women also equally participate like men in exercising their franchise. There are seven constituencies in Cachar district where elections will be held on April 1.

Around 12 lakh voters of the district will cast their votes in 1,834 polling stations. The three-phased elections for the 126-member Assam assembly will be held on March 27, April 1 and April 6.