Guwahati, June 27: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has asked district officials in the state to skip felicitations in government programmes and instead use the time to screen road safety videos, which said would “prioritise road safety and create a people’s movement.”
Attending a video conference with the officials at Janata Bhawan here on Tuesday, Sarma, while taking inspiration from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure as the Gujarat chief minister, highlighted the effectiveness of utilising short visuals to convey social messages.
He further cited the example of a three-minute drama enacted during Modi’s tenure (as chief minister of Gujarat) before government programmes to address the issue of girl child mortality, which became an emotional theme and left a lasting impact on the people in that state.
“The impact of such short dramas in Gujarat, highlighting the reduction of pregnancy terminations, has been huge, and through the medium of such dramatic performances, the state of Gujarat was able to send across a strong social message and effectively combat the issue,” Sarma said.
Underlining the need for making road safety awareness a statewide campaign in Assam now, the chief minister said effective measures were needed to curb mishaps and save lives in the state, which has witnessed a high incidence of road mishaps of late.
He also proposed that instead of the traditional lighting of lamps and felicitation of guests during a programme in Dibrugarh later this week, the time should be utilised to showcase a three-minute drama highlighting the distress faced by people owing to road accidents.
“I will be visiting Dibrugarh later this month to present awards to the Guinness record holders. So, instead of the traditional lighting of lamps and felicitation of guests, a short drama highlighting the distress faced by people owing to road accidents should be performed in that function,” Sarma told the district officials.