The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi will now teach its officials how to be social media savvy so that they can interact with the citizens through various platforms.
On Thursday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia asked the Delhi government’s Information Technology (IT) Department to add Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp as part of IT training for officials, along with Microsoft Word, Excel and other software.
The move comes in the wake of Mr. Sisodia observing that communicating and sharing information through social media was more convenient, faster and easier than traditional ‘Excel sheets’.
“Mr. Sisodia asked us to add these three social media sites as part of the training,” said a government official.
Though a formal policy on the matter is yet to be formulated, it is expected to be on the lines of the Centre’s social media policy for its officials.
“In the past one month, all departments were able to communicate better through WhatsApp. Sharing pictures and reports on fogging, dengue and chikungunya cases and road repairs was much easier,” said an IT Department official.
No staff
However, IT Department officials are sceptical about the addition of social media as they are understaffed. “We are short-staffed. To manage social media, a team is needed. It can only be a success if people are hired for this purpose,” said another official.
