Sparrow unveiled as Mascot to woo voters in Hailakandi election district

March 5: The voter awareness programme of the Hailakandi district administration, apart from focusing on the upcoming polls, is concentrating on the conservation of endangered sparrow. Sparrow is not only small but beautiful but also agile and energetic and keeps on chirping all day long.

District Election Officer, Megh Nidhi Dahal, IAS, said the sparrow was once abundant in the region but is now on the verge of extinction. “Besides the need to conserve the bird, the chirping sparrow which generally makes houses its habitat will fly from household to household to inspire and motivate the voters, especially the young voters, women voters and those living in far flung and urban areas to come out in large numbers on the day of voting on April 1 and thus further strengthen the edifice of democracy. So the district administration thought of making the energetic sparrow the mascot for the 2021 Assembly polls,” Dahal quipped.

Plans are on the anvil to make an animation on the sparrow as mascot under SVEEP programme. “This will not only spread public awareness on voting but also about conservation of the endangered bird species,” he said.
The sparrow mascot based voter awareness programmes would be promoted on social media in a big way for the Assembly polls to three legislative constituencies in Hailakandi election district”, he added.

A selfie corner with the sparrow as mascot is being installed at the Deputy Commissioner’s office complex to woo young voters to exercise their franchise.

The administration has intensified SVEEP activities with focus on young and women voters and in those areas of the district where percentage of voting was below 75 per cent so that the voter turnout this time around is more compared to 79.87 per cent in 2016 Assembly election and 79.48 per cent in 2019 Parliamentary election.
Senior officials of the administration have been engaged in SVEEP programmes in order to come up with innovative ideas to enhance the voter participation in the electoral process.