Context :
GoM
lays out plan for govt’s media outreach / HT
/ 02 Dec 2020
Extract :
Ø The Union government is working on a new strategy to overhaul
its media and public outreach, with a group of
ministers (GoM) comprising nine Union ministers recommending a focus on 10 key
areas as well as detailing ways in which criticism can
be addressed and positive
messaging can be spread wider.
Ø “The deliberations of the GoM focused on evolving
multipronged strategy to take these 10 big narratives to the people by various
means including direct
connect by elected
representatives and state and district level representatives, engaging
with media houses and academia at national and international level, utilising
all types of media, feeding them with positive stories and testimonials, developing institutional mechanisms for structured
engagements, developing DD International on lines of best
international public broadcasters and strengthening a resource pool of domain
experts,” the report said.
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Dear
Narendrabhai,
At the outset, you – and your Ministers – must be
congratulated for trying to reach out to our 1.3 billion citizen, with messages
of the REFORMS that your Government is undertaking
The strategy proposed above will make it even easier
to convey your messages to people ( in all major Indian languages, I suppose )
But that would be a MONOLOGUE ( one way communication )
What is lacking is a DIALOGUE ( people being able to send their
VIEWS on various matters to the CONCERNED govt officers / ministers, AND getting
a response within some stipulated time – explaining govt stand / action being
taken by xyz date )
If you want to know :
“ What holds back people
to send their views ? “
Answer :
When I want to complain about some matter of ( bad ) governance,
first of all, I have no idea as to WHO ( which officers – by their NAMES and DESIGNATIONS ) is responsible
May be, like me, one-in-a-million person would take
the trouble to uncover this information
Next question is :
“ What is the E-Mail ID / Phone Number / Twitter page of that Govt
officer / MPs / MLAS ? “
Answer :
Even for a person with a Smartphone – tablet – desktop
and a good broadband connection, etc., this is a nearly IMPOSSIBLE task !
[ 95 % of our
citizen lack such facility ]
I know, since I search for such CONTACT INFO, for at
least ONE HOUR, every day !
If in doubt, please try
searching for such CONTACT
INFO on any government portal
On WWW, there is nothing more frustrating !
You may ask :
“ what is the solution ? “
In good old days ( I am sure, you would remember ), Telephone
Department used to publish city-wise TELEPHONE DIRECTORIES
Please consider publishing TWEETER PAGE / E-MAIL ID DIRECTORIES ( of course, with
relevant Phone Numbers ) of govt officers, as follows :
Ø Central Government Departments / Central PSUs /
Agencies
Ø State Government Departments / State PSUs / Agencies
Ø City wise
If it is not feasible to print / distribute HARD
COPIES, then consider a govt portal exclusively devoted to
such CONTACT INFO (
easier to update – add – delete – edit ), with an intuitive SEARCH INTERFACE
MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE of such a portal :
Just clicking / touching on NAME of any officer would
open up a E-MAIL app with a message box, where a person can either TYPE or
VOICE-RECORD his complaint / message. Clicking on PHONE NUMBER would dial /
connect him to concerned officer , where he can record his suggestion ( Speech –
to – Text technology ? )
For the benefit of millions of citizen without access
to internet / devices, you may consider publishing such CONTACT INFO in
print News Papers at the rate of one DEPT per day
Since such CONTACT INFO would fall under the category " News You Can Use " and will be greatly valued by the readers, I am sure print media would be happy to download pages from the govt portal and print it for FREE - at no cost to the government !
For the Government, it would not require any convincing the News Papers to publish such CONTACT INFO as a " Value Added Service " - which, in turn, would vastly increase their CIRCULATION - and the consequent ADVERTIZING REVENUE !
Let citizen tear off and preserve those DAILY CONTACT SHEETS
in a file
These DAILY PUBLICATIONS ( one full page / no more ,
for ease of preserving ) could begin with ENGLISH , followed by HINDI and other
languages
My suggestion would lead to a TRUE DIALOGUE between Govt and Citizen
Even if we cannot accept it as a Constitutionally guaranteed FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT, it is high time, we make it absolutely easy to to exercise their,
Right to Influence Policy Makers ( click for User Interface design )
You may also consider launching :
I
SIN > < U SIN ( 12 Dec 2012 )
With regards,
Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 16 April
2021
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Related Reading :
> Needed : a Service Liability Act ( 12 June 2019 )