In an attempt to engage first-time Indian voters to participate actively in the upcoming general election, Facebook Inc on Friday organized the Citizen Townhall in Bangalore, Karnataka in partnership with Josh Talks.
Inaugurated by Sanjiv Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer, Karnataka, and joined by Ananda Thirta and activist with the Bangalore Political Action Committee, Sunil Jain founder of Astha Foundation and PG Bhat an Activist with SMART Vote in the panel discussion on elections. ‘The Citizen Town Hall is one of its kind of multi-city initiative to engage more first-time voters to participate actively by helping them to gain the knowledge they need by having active conversations and dialogue around the elections.’
During interactions with the first-time voters, Sanjiv Kumar addressed all the queries and concerns related to the voting process and digitization among other pertinent topics.
Talking more on the initiative, Shivnath Thukral, Public Policy Director for India and South Asia for Facebook Inc said “Facebook has an incredible potential to be a positive force for democracy around the world. A number of steps are being taken by us to protect the integrity of the upcoming elections in India.”
“We also believe that Facebook has an important part to play in creating an informed community, and help people access the information they need to take part in the democratic process,” Thukral said.
Talking about the Citizen Town Hall, Thakrul said, “The Citizen’s Town Hall, initiative is being organized to empower youth with the knowledge they need that will drive effective participation during the upcoming elections.”
The Citizens’ Townhall has already conducted in eight states.