While Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s cyber interaction with citizens — a YouTube talkathon organised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting — was a smart and novel attempt at engaging people in a way that none of his predecessors did, it ended up looking like a typical Indian train.
It was much publicized and eagerly anticipated, with constant announcements from the I&B Twitter handle, but by the time it started — delayed by about 50 minutes — everyone was tired and just wanted to get it over with.
“It seems that #AskMR has been cancelled without notice and no refund applicable?” quipped one user.
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On his part, Mr. Prabhu avoided tricky questions such as whether CCTV surveillance of women’s coaches could affect privacy or whether a longer advance booking period of 120 days would benefit agents more than regular consumers.
The questions he fielded included those about new trains, solar energy, cleanliness, and food standards, besides a video question on bullet trains by author Chetan Bhagat.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a vision for railways...people in India take a lot of interest in railways...there were a lot of expectations but there was limited time. I have only been Minister for three months and in that time I think I have done the best I could,” said Mr. Prabhu.
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He said Indian Railways would use its resources, including stations, land, tracks, etc to generate solar power and “contribute” to the promotion of green energy.
A large number of questions under the hashtag #AskMR were on bullet trains and cleanliness of platforms and trains.
The eagerly awaited cyber interaction was delayed by 50 minutes