Social Media, important for people welfare : Govt.

“21st Century is the age of information, communication and knowledge, and this is the only way the people of the country can be empowered. The citizens need to be made aware about the initiatives and schemes the Government is implementing for their welfare. Today, social media is the most important tool for Nation Building and Peoples’ Welfare”, said Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Ananthkumar while chairing a review meeting on Social Media engagement with People on schemes and initiatives taken by Ministries under his charge. Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya co-chaired the meeting.

Following the vision of Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi to ‘Educate, Engage and Elevate’ the People on issues of their welfare, Shri Ananthkumar guided the gathering of social media incharges of all departments, organisations and PSUs under his Ministries, to make the citizen aware of the initiatives taken for social welfare and also tap the pulse from the ground on the extent of their successful implementation. Social Media is the appropriate tool to take real time feedback on the efficacy of any scheme on the ground and help improve their implementation, hence it needs to be employed to its full capacity, Shri Ananthkumar said.

Citing inadequate level of awareness among the people on important initiatives like neem coating of urea, capping of cardiac stent and knee implant prices, Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP), among others, Shri Ananthkumar said that a social welfare scheme can be truly effective only when its beneficiaries are aware about it and no other tool than social media can perform this task in a better fashion.

Speaking to the gathering, Shri Mandaviya said that social media is a visual medium and is very dynamic with respect to the content and format of information it hosts. The social media teams should focus on generation of visual content that is easily understandable and contains maximum information on a scheme/ initiative for the common man. The Minister asked the officers to identify content from social welfare schemes that is of benefit for the people and present it in a creative format for them to grasp it better. He added that big schemes being implemented by the Government would have no meaning if the target beneficiaries are not aware of the benefits.

Shri Ananthkumar also directed senior officers of the Ministries/ departments to undertake a revamp and subsequently update their official websites regularly and make them more citizen friendly. The Minister also desired to take a regular review of the level of engagement of all entities under the Ministries on social media with the people.