SDO Abhishek Srivastava releases Urdu vote awareness stickers at his office in Dhanbad on Tuesday. (Gautam Dey)

It is always easy to understand anything written/said in your own language.

At a time when extensive efforts are being taken to urge community to exercise their franchise in the Lok Sabha polls, Dhanbad district election committee has come up with stickers with Urdu slogans to motivate minority people to turn up at polling booths on April 24.

More than 500 such stickers have already been distributed at places like Wasseypur, Topchanchi, Jharia, Dhanbad railway station area, Loyabad and Govindpur, which come under Dhanbad constituency.

Dhanbad subdivisional officer (SDO) Abhishek Srivastava, also the nodal officer of Systematic Voter Education for Electoral Participation programme, said they have distributed stickers with slogans in Urdu in order to spread the message among all sections. The slogans are direct translation of those printed in Hindi.

SDO Srivastava said that apart from printed materials, the Election Commission had also sent other campaign gear.

The idea of circulating such printed awareness messages, however, came from Asadur Rahman, a journalist with an Urdu daily, during a news meet organised by deputy commissioner-cum-district returning officer Prashant Kumar on March 11.

Later, Rahman helped with translations.

“The SDO’s office had sent us 200 stickers that were to be pasted on vehicles. We received the stickers on Saturday (April 5) and have distributed them among vehicle owners in different minority-dominated areas like Wasseypur, Jharia, Upper Bazaar area of Govindpur, Loyabad etc,” said Rahman.

Describing one such sticker, Rahman said the slogan goes like this: “Mustkam jamhuri nijam ke liye badi zimmedari nibhayen voter bane, apna vote karen, voter list mein apna naam indaraaz karyein. Lalach se dur rahen dil aur dimag se vote karen.”

This meant, he added, that an electorate must vote for the well-being of democracy.

Apart from private vehicles, the district election committee has also handed stickers to taxi and auto drivers at Dhanbad station.