Maha govt asks DIOs to start using Twitter for better reach

Underlining the importance and need of a digital platform for smooth administration, the Maharashtra government is making several efforts to use social media to convey its decisions and messages quickly.

The government has asked all District Information Officers (DIOs) to start operating individual Twitter handles, the Director General Information and Public Relations (DGIPR) Brijesh Singh said.

"Even Superintendents of Police (SsP) too have been asked to start their Twitter handles. This is working well for the administration. The DIOs have around 2,500 Twitter  followers now including in backward district like Gadchiroli where there are 500 followers," Singh, an IPS officer of the rank of Special Inspector General (SIG) told reporters here last evening.

Singh said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed him to analyse all the information about government's moves that is published in the media.

"Many times the government announces a decision assuming that it would serve society and people. But somewhere the media finds faults or criticises the decisions. The CM has asked me not to ignore such reports but verify them and find solutions if genuine concerns are raised," Singh said.

He also spoke about cyber-crimes and measures being taken to tackle the ever growing threat.

"The government has asked C-DAC to develop cyber-crime labs. Each lab costs around Rs. 1 crore. Softwares for data extraction, image recovery, are being developed for technology-assisted investigation. We are also setting up a big data centre as India is among the first 3 or 4 nations hit by cyber-crime the most," he said.