Jammu: Dance, music mark end of apricot festival

Jammu, April 19

Secretary, Agriculture and Horticulture, Laltinkhuma Franklin, and Chief Electoral Officer, Ladakh, Yatindra M Maralkar, attended the concluding ceremony of the Apricot Blossom Festival at Saspol village.

The festival, organised by the Tourism Department in collaboration with Saspol villagers, was filled with cultural performances and dances by cultural troupes and talented students of the Higher Secondary School, Saspol.

In his welcome speech, Saspol nambardar Tsewang Norboo thanked the Tourism Department for organising the festival. He welcomed the dignitaries with traditional scarf (khataks). Officials of the Tourism and Horticulture Departments also attended the festival.

Adding to the festivity, a team of SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation) from Leh, headed by State Nodal Officer Tsewang Morup, conducted an engaging awareness campaign and distributed T-shirts and keychains to the participants. It highlighted the importance of voting in a democracy and urged everyone to exercise their right to vote on May 20.

Maralkar emphasised the significance of voting, underlining the Election Commission of India’s efforts to simplify the electoral process. He mentioned user-friendly apps like Saksham ECI, designed to assist elderly and disabled voters, the cVigil app for reporting model code of conduct violations, and the KYC app for accessing information on candidates’ criminal records.

He encouraged the public to explore these resources on the ECI website. As the event drew to a close, attendees were urged to participate actively in the upcoming elections in Ladakh and cast their votes on May 20, ensuring a vibrant and robust democratic process.