CM takes expert help for effective COVID-19 awareness campaign

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has come up with an awareness campaign with the help of creative content developers to disseminate information in an effective way about steps to be taken by people to stay protected during the coronavirus outbreak.

Since the viral disease has become a pandemic, it is vital for people to stay at home, self-quarantine and practice social distancing. To convey this message in an effective manner, the chief minister, who is an alumnus of the Sir J J Institute of Applied Arts, took help of communication and designing expert Bhupal Ramnathkar in developing the awareness campaign, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a statement.

Ramnathkar had also studied at the same institute. Thackeray and Ramnathkar tapped the advertising, communication and design professionals produced by the institute and crowd-sourced a creative product from across the pool of artistic talent.

Soon, other creative people from various art colleges also lent their talent pool to the resources, the CMO said. Messages designed to make people aware about coronavirus and how to stay protected against it were then circulated on various social media platforms.

"A constant stream of highly effective messages flooded social media networks. These messages were created by highly talented and experienced members of the advertising and design elite who know exactly how a message must be conveyed," the CMO said.

Talented people from across the nation and even internationally-acclaimed designers have joined the campaign, it added.