Information secretary advises district-level people-centred, innovative outreach ahead of national polls
She expressed confidence that the information officers would meet the outreach challenges successfully
Information and Broadcasting Secretary Mahbuba Farzana has advised district-level officials to adopt people-centred and innovative communication strategies to increase spontaneous voter participation in the upcoming 13th national parliamentary election. She said that election outreach must be intensive and closely connected to the public to boost engagement.
She gave the directive while addressing a virtual meeting as chief guest today (3 December) on Zoom, organised to guide field-level officials on communication strategies for the upcoming national election and referendum. The Department of Mass Communication arranged the meeting with district information officers.
Md Abdul Jalil, director general of the Department of Mass Communication, chaired the session, which was attended by officers from the department's 68 field offices.
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The information secretary said that, following the guidance of the chief adviser, the upcoming election is expected to be unique and unprecedented compared to previous polls.
"District information offices will carry the primary responsibility for intensive publicity and public opinion building," she said.
She directed district information officers to begin election outreach immediately.
The information secretary noted that, for the first time in the country's history, the national election and the referendum will be held on the same day.
"Informing grassroots communities down to the union and village levels about this will be a major challenge," she said.
She expressed confidence that the information officers would meet this challenge successfully.
She further said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Ministry of Cultural Affairs will work in close coordination during the election publicity campaign.
The information secretary instructed information officers to operate as an innovative team, while maintaining coordination with the district administration and local election officials.
"Information officers will also be linked with Bangla Fact, led by PIB, to handle rumours and conduct fact-checking duties," she said.
In his remarks, the Director General of the Department of Mass Communication, Md Abdul Jalil, said that the department has 102 years of experience in communication and publicity work.
"Thirty four songs have been produced in coordination with the election code of conduct ahead of the polls. These will be performed in regional languages across specific localities," he said.
"Demonstrations on how to cast a yes/no vote will be shown in village markets and fairs. Publicity efforts are being made more modern and engaging to ensure voter participation," he added.
He expressed hope that people-centred outreach would encourage citizens to participate spontaneously in both the national election and the yes/no referendum.
Among others, Additional Secretary Dr Mohammad Altaf-ul-Alam, Joint Secretary Mahfuza Akhter, and directors Mir Mohammad Aslam Uddin and Syed A Momen of the Department of Mass Communication spoke at the meeting.
