Home » india news » WhatsApp: Chennai Corporation's new tool for governance
 

WhatsApp: Chennai Corporation's new tool for governance

Catch Team | Updated on: 22 June 2016, 13:51 IST

Chennai just figured how to bring better governance to its masses. The answer is the widely used messaging app, WhatsApp.

Several city corporations, public works department and metro water staff have to send in their daily reports via WhatsApp.

So whether it is cleaners at Marina Beach, sewage workers or conservancy workers, the new policy means that after cleaning up the daily quota of mess, the worker merely has to whip out their phone and click a picture of what they cleaned or fixed and hit send to the supervisors.

The Deccan Chronicle reports that sanitary workers cleaning Marina beach share pictures of removing trash on three-shift basis to corporation supervisors. Similarly, government public relation officers (PRO) in Chennai on an average maintain at least three different groups. The first for the information department, the second for department they are posted to and third to deal with newsmen covering the city.

But who pays for the internet or a snazzy camera phone? So far there seems to be no clear policy to incentivise owning a smartphone with a camera and internet connection. Principal Secretary of the Public Works Department, Mr Prabhakar was busy when Catch News called his office. Perhaps he had to be reached on Whatsapp for more timely response.

Amma takes to WhatsApp

Amma actively took to Whatsapp two years ago when she campaigned for the first time using Whatsapp in October 2014. The IT wing of AIADMK launched a massive WhatsApp campaign in support of 'Amma', sending out lakhs of messages, with the help of more than 3,000 SIM cards and a computer algorithm, which was used by the party in the last Lok Sabha polls. One of the coordinators of the party's IT wing told The Financial Express that the messages were sent from SIM cards located in different parts of the country by devising a computer programme which we could exceed the set limit of 100 messages and send any number of messages at a time.

Information and Publicity Department of the State government has also taken up more efforts to send all press release and pictures of government functions through WhatsApp to media organizations, television news channels and its representatives.

With digital penetration of technology reaching grassroots now the people of Chennai can hope for more accountability and speedier grievance redress.

First published: 22 June 2016, 13:51 IST