Major outreach plan to involve city's youth in civic decisions

Kolkata: Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim will be live on Facebook on February 6 as part of the launch of a unique social media campaign through which the youth of the city will be able to share their views and ideas on transforming Kolkata for the better.

The campaign has been named 'Youth for Kolkata' through which the Mayor has extended his invitation to the younger generation to come forward with their ideas. The session will start at 7 pm.

"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee believes that the youth of Kolkata has a mission, vision and dedication. We want them to share their opinion on how we can transform the city among one of the very best in the world. We want to know about their aspirations regarding the same. We would like to take into consideration their suggestions in every civic matter ranging from waste disposal to beautification," Hakim said in a video that has been posted on KMC's Facebook page.

The campaign that was launched on Thursday had already attracted several comments and suggestions and senior officials of the civic body believe that more will be registered in the next few days.

"The Mayor will start the live session deliberating upon the constructive ideas and comments that will come on the Facebook page during this period and will also take up comments and posts during the course of the programme," said Sandipan Saha, in-charge of the KMC IT cell.

Two videos, each of duration of a little more than a minute, have been uploaded on the KMC Facebook page. In one video, the Mayor speaks about the objective behind the campaign and appeals to the youth of the city for their suggestions while the second is a more general one on how can views be shared in the platform.

"We have plans to hold similar sessions and the dates will be decided on the basis of feedback that we get from the first interactive programme," a senior KMC official added.