Social media are new-age digital change agents: Senior IAS, IPS officers
Author: BI Bureau
New Delhi / Raipur / Patna / Lucknow, February 6, 2021: Social media are new-age digital change agents which have empowered Indian bureaucracy to deliver social goods in a far more effective way than in past, said a distinguished set of panelists comprising IAS, IPS officers and other experts during a webinar on Saturday organized by Bureaucrats India, a news portal dedicated to celebrate the good works of bureaucrats.
Counting the many benefits of social media platforms during Covid, Dipanshu Kabra, senior IPS officer and Additional Transport Commissioner, Chhattisgarh said that social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have brought people much closer to bureaucracy. Adding that social media give glorious added opportunity to bureaucrats to serve society far more effectively that “we should have heart and compassion to help the people, especially those who are from weaker sections of the society.”
Dr Nilesh Deore, IAS and District Magistrate, Saran, Bihar, said: “The advent of social media has not only enabled better publicity of work done by bureaucrats but also created an effective system where we could get citizens’ feedback in a seamless manner. Social media have changed the dynamics of governance.” Highlighting how social media have brought the world closer, and effectively aiding in development work, he cited example of his recent visit to a Dutch Cemetery in Chhapra and posting a message on the same on his Twitter handle. An organization working on conservation approached him, which led to a chain reaction, and now the state government is in the process of sanctioning funds for its restoration.
As joint magistrate of Basti, Prem Prakash Meena, IAS along with his DM had launched a unique crowdsourcing initiative, raising Rs 14 lakh in no time, and spending that in a rare Basti Mahotsav. Now posted as Joint Magistrate of Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, Meena said: “Social media has improved interface between people and bureaucracy. We are under constant scrutiny now. People are using social media platforms to stay connected with the administration and vice versa.” Talking about how the District administration was integrating social media into governance framework, Meena said: “We have created Twitter handles for different departments and services. As and when we get any complaint or query, officers concerned respond to that immediately. This is a significant shift from days of the past, when people’s complaints would often get buried in files. Today we are far more responsive.”
Dr Navneet Anand of Bureaucrats India also announced that all such effective intervention of bureaucrats are being compiled by the organization for wider use and information. Santosh Singh, IPS officer and SP, Raigarh, Chhattisgarh, said: “We have effectively used social media as tools to help the needy. During Covid, social media proved quite effective in mobilizing essential items to help the needy. People responded to our requests and donated generously.” Raigarh district sourced 14 lakh masks and which were distributed in one day across the district.
Pratik Dattani, Advisor, Bridge India, said “Social media can make citizen’s voice much more effective.” He also shared his insights on misinformation and disinformation campaigns and why it is critical for us to equip ourselves with this menace.
Ankita Sharma, IPS, Assistant SP, Raipur, while responding to a query from the audience, said that traditional policing is very important. “Social media is becoming effective in dealing with cyber crime, and in delivering social goods.”
More In Tech Governance
The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores.
As the economy comes to a standstill amid the coronavirus-led lockdown, India’s agriculture sector has taken the baton of economic growth in its hands. The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores, according to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The government said that self-reliant agriculture is critical for the goal of an Atmanirbhar Bharat and for this, agricultural export is extremely important as besides earning foreign exchange for the country, the exports help farmers, producers, and exporters to take advantage of the wider international market and increase their income.
The surge in exports has also resulted in increased production in the farm sector by increasing coverage area and productivity. The share of India’s agricultural exports and imports in the world agriculture trade in 2017 was 2.27 percent and 1.90 percent, respectively. Even during the difficult time of pandemic lockdown, India took care not to disturb the world food supply chain and continued to export, the government said.
Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a comprehensive action plan for the promotion of Agri trade; the twofold approach focuses on boosting Agri Export with emphasis on value addition and action plan for Import Substitution. Recently, the Agriculture sector has witnessed a series of reforms, giving more choices to the farmers to sell their produce at competitive rates.
To mention a few, the Export strategy focuses on the export promotion of fast-evolving niche markets of Wellness food/ Health-conscious food/nutraceuticals, Development of “Brand India” in campaign mode to help penetration into new foreign markets and of new products which automatically translates into higher value realization, Gulf countries have been identified as focus destination to increase the market share which is a strong market for India though presently India caters to only 10-12% share of their total imports. A product-market matrix has been made containing a list of products of strength that could be expanded in new geographies and a list of known markets which can be introduced with newer products.
At the behest of the Department of Agricultural Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, product-specific Export Promotion Forums have been created to lead Agri exports to new heights. Each Export Promotion Forum shall be having exporters of the related commodity as its members along with official members representing concerned Ministries/Departments of the Central and State Governments. Chairman APEDA shall be the chairman of each of these forums. The forums will meet at least once every two months, to discuss recommendations on issues pertaining to the export.
The recommendations of the forum will be placed in the product committee / Authority of APEDA. The Forum will keep in close contact with the concerned organization of the Ministry of Agriculture such as MIDH, Extension, NPPO, etc., DGFT, Ministry of Civil Aviation, MoFPI, etc. to further the interest of agricultural export.
