Collectors and Superintendents of all the districts will now have to be available on Facebook page and Twitter handles to promptly react to people’s issues and also promote the policies of the Telangana Government.
This is the official policy of the government and very soon the district administration from Collector to the heads of all wings will have FB pages and Twitter handles active and within a week.
With the new districts formed, the government feels it is all the more important to tap the social media platforms.
The IT Department has already taken the first step in this direction imparting training to the Public Relations Officers of all the departments on effective usage of social media and to the Heads of various departments.
“Facebook page and Twitter handles will be the platforms that the Telangana Government wants to run its developmental campaign through as this is a direct channel to connect with people,” says Dileep Konatham, Director, Digital Media, Telangana.
Within a week, FB pages and Twitter handles of each Collector and every district administration will be activated. Mr. Konatham said IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao, who himself is aggressively active on social media, wants all the municipalities and other utility departments at the district level to be active on social media.
“This works two ways - getting the feedback directly from people and also to reach out to them directly.”
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao too has realised social media’s power in engaging people during the agitation period, and now follows FB quietly keenly.
In fact, replying to the discussion on Harita Haram in the Assembly last week, the CM surprised everyone referring to a viral post of a monkey requesting the human beings with folded hands to increase green cover so that the primates can go back home.
Officials also recall the exercise done by the CM on powerpoint presentation on irrigation projects in the Assembly using Google Earth. “Google Earth is a complex tool even for the younger generation but the CM spent hundreds of hours studying it to prepare the presentation.” Perhaps, no other political leader in the country has used it so effectively, and it shows how this Government believes is using technology, an official said.
