The 10 smart goverment depts on Social media

Always criticized for showing nonchalance during the revolutionary moments, the Indian middle class was all of a sudden blessed with a voice - the voice that had no timidity, no purr, no fear in it but defiance, revolt and a willingness not to compromise with the misdeeds of those in power. Later the dictum - that when people revolt, the kingdoms shake - went true when the Commonwealth Games and 2G scam accused were sent to Tihar Jail.

But the media that had a key role in rendering strength to their voice and making it the loudest ever were the social networks - Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc - where they held meetings, created public support forums, shared thoughts and decided to stand stiff against the scamsters. The Anna Hazare movement also picked momentum through the voluminous support that poured in from all kinds of internet users.

It is obvious for the powerful to descend down to age - old tactics of silencing the public voice through force or law. That is what started happening of late when the powerful could not afford to see a thousand middle - class men and women arguing on Facebook and Twitter like Rousseau and Voltaire. But it is not so easy to silence the public in an internet age. Perhaps that is why the government which had some of its men angry about these sites - for the reasons obvious - is itself committed to make use of the new age media.

Well, it is also known as government's Governance 2.0 agenda. Many government entities - state and central - are leveraging social networks to reach out to people, citizens in a way very similar to what the companies have been doing to enhance their brand value and intensifying their customer base.

Irrespective of censorship debate, many government departments like India Post - which is using Twitter since early 2009 - are the pioneers in India to make use of the social media platforms. And the intent was pious since the postal department was wary of reforming its image in an email era and wanted to help customers with the right kind of information about the lost or delayed parcels and letters.

Despite the ongoing censorship battle which has permeated into the courtroom, India is one of the leading countries in the world that has broken conventions to step out into a new world. But this is not only for being part of the change that has been taking place worldwide but for establishing a healthy connect with citizens. Thus it is perhaps one of the innovative steps to fetch reforms, enhance governance and also work on the grievance redressal.

Departments like Delhi Traffic Police, India Post, Muncipal Corporation of Delhi and Kerala Tourism, among others are a few examples which have translated the efforts into results. Their love affair with social media is not a mere formality. The traffic police in different cities have seen the fruits of their social media campaign and spread awareness amongst citizens about traffic rules and traffic etiquette.

Likewise, other departments in the state and central ministries have a resort on the virtual platforms where their perceptions have changed in terms of information sharing. It would not be an exaggeration if government's social media campaign is now regarded as an extension of the RTI Act (Right to Information Act). To be true, these departments are also addressing a lot of complaints received through their Facebook or Twitter profile.

But there is also a flipside to social media which has left the government red - faced as well as embarrassed more often than not. Who can forget Shashi Tharoor, former state external affairs minister in the UPA government? His unbridled love for Twitter had him thrown out of the government as his fingers betrayed him and did not refrain from spilling the beans about the government plans.

Also his "cattle class" comment pushed the government on the backfoot earning a widespread criticism. But luckily these kinds of incidents did not prove to be deterrent for making social media part of the government policy. Instead it showed briskness in drafting guidelines to use social media for departments - a move which was widely applauded. It is, of course, a step taken at the right time to maintain the secrecy of private and confidential information.

Top 10 Government Departments Having Benefited from Social Media

Today, there are a hundreds of government agencies and departments in the country with official presence on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. While Facebook and Twitter are the primary choices for most departments, YouTube is also used by some of the departments that have videos to share. So out of many government agencies, Dataquest has only chosen top 10 government agencies which have successfully put social media to use.

While there can be counter-views for the list we have created, it has been our endeavor to accommodate the best government drives on social media networks. However, we have taken into account a few things while ranking the departments; mainly, the number of fans, people discussing about it, two-way communication or interaction with followers, and number of and frequency of updates, etc. Well, there is no need for an External Affairs Ministry or PMO to engage in an active discussion because of various reasons. The ranking part was conducted keeping in mind their operational requirements. In addition, the departments like Pune Traffic Police and Indore Police have more regional significance. While putting in the list, the efforts in the region (either in local language and frequency of calls on the problems posted by users) were taken into account and had more weightage than just the followers.

While the number of likes or followers was a criteria to judge, it was not the only criteria since several departments, even with a huge fan-following, had their profiles lying redundant. Significant to mention is that there were official pages on multiple government surveys, events and schemes like elections, Twelth Five Year Plan and Census 2011, etc, which, despite their popularity, could not be included. The focus was mainly on the ongoing campaigns.

Delhi Traffic Police
Facebook: 104,647
People talking about it: 4,183

Delhi Traffic Police is on Facebook for quite some time now and is perhaps the leading government department that has reaped benefits. It has a long trail of followers (104,647) on Facebook which post comments, express views and share experiences. Through the fan page, Delhi Traffic Police has succeeded in disseminating timely advice on jams, accidents, traffic rules and other traffic movements.
On an average, the department posts up to 20 posts per hour on its Facebook page. Unlike many departments, which have their pages and fans lying idle after the initial phase, Delhi Traffic Police keeps in constant touch with its followers and informs them about the recent events. The department has set, if not a benchmark, an example and shown how the form of media is set to yield value even for the government agencies. The department sometimes also boasts to have contained the number of accidents and punished the errant drivers and law-breakers on the roads.
Facebook page: " target="_blank" rel="noopener">

Indian Railways
Facebook likes: 7,321

Aimed at providing instant train and status information to passengers, the Railways through its Facebook page which it recently started in February 2012 gives information on arrival and departure times, platform number, journey schedule, etc, apart from their reservation status. In a very short time, the Railways page was grabbed by more than 7,000 internet users which shows how anxious travellers are to receive information on the trains, bookings, delays, etc.
Facebook link: " target="_blank" rel="noopener">

Indore Police
Facebook: Likes-2,284
Twitter Followers: 134

Another unique example of making better use of social media has been put by the Indore Police Department which has been maintaining a regular blog in Hindi, Facebook page and Twitter profile. Besides, they also have a Google Map of police stations in Indore. It also employs a unique techique in digital crime mapper to track criminal activities in the city. It may have limited number of followers but it uses social media smartly to nab criminals and take stock of the criminal activities that route through the web.
Link: " target="_blank" rel="noopener">https: //www.facebook.com/IndorePolice
Twitter link: @indorepolice

Kerala Tourism
Facebook Likes: 126,318
People discussing about it: 1,647
Twitter Followers: 8,500

YouTube: Videos posted-668, Followers- 1867, Video views-3,793,401
Kerala Tourism department stands next when it comes to attracting tourists, holidaymakers to God's own country even through social media. The department has created its pages on every popular social network-Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Its Facebook page has 126,762 likes. Similarly, it has exploited the prowess of other platforms such as Twitter (where it has posted more than 2,000 tweets with more than 8,000 followers) and YouTube (where its videos have garnered more than 3,793,401 views and 1,867 subscribers).
Facebook link: " target="_blank" rel="noopener"> />
Twitter: @KeralaTourism
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/keralatourism

Madhya Pradesh Tourism

Facebook Likes: 49,906
YouTube: 170,667 views

The Madhya Pradesh Tourism department also deserves mention when it comes to using social media in targeting tourists, holidayers. Close on the heels of Kerala Tourism, it has set up a Facebook page and a YouTube page. The department has earned a tremendous support on these platforms and has been able to spread awareness on various tourist destinations in the state through articles and videos. On Facebook, it has close to 50,000 fans whereas its videos on YouTube have garnered 170,667 video views.
Facebook link: " target="_blank" rel="noopener"> />
YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/mptourism

Ministry of External Affairs

Twitter followers: 25,085

The Ministry of External Affairs, which makes it next to our list, opened an account on Twitter (@indiandiplomacy) on July 10, 2011. The account was efficiently used during the Libya and Middle East crises. Besides, it posts regular updates on the international issues and India's diplomatic stand on various international events. Till date the account has got a fan following of about 25,085.
This was followed by opening of official accounts of the Public Diplomacy Division on Facebook, YouTube, Scribd, Issuu and Blogger. Proactive adoption of social media by the Public Diplomacy Division acted as a catalyst for other divisions of the Ministry of External Affairs as well as Indian Missions and Posts abroad, several of which opened accounts on Facebook. The former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao also had a verified Twitter account and thus represented the ministry on Twitter through updates.
Twitter link: @indiandiplomacy
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/indiandiplomacy

Municipal Corporation of Delhi

Facebook Likes: 6,917
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has integrated on its website the process of form filling and submission in order to reduce the hassle faced by citizens. Online forms include birth certificates, information on filing an RTI appeal, tax submission forms, veterinary licenses, etc.
Facebook link: " target="_blank" rel="noopener"> />

Post Office India

Twitter followers: 9,461
The Indian Postal services, world's largest postal network, jumped on to Twitter in order to interact with users and citizens. The Department of Posts (which comes under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology) leverages Twitter as a customer-relationship management tool. The department has been addressing the queries posted by users in relation to their letters, registries and parcels, etc. They have posted more than 486 tweets.
Twitter link: @PostOfficeIndia

Prime Minister's Office

Twitter fans: 71,280
The PMO joined Twitter earlier this year. It would be worth mentioning that Pankaj Pachauri-the new communications advisor to the Prime Minister of India-is behind starting the Twitter account which in a very short span bagged a fan-following of more than 70,000. Despite its fan following being higher than External Affairs Ministry, Dataquest has put it lower in the rung just because it is social media campaign is relatively new and has to prove its worth in terms of updating its followers on key national issues. The fan-following seems more inspired by Pachauri who is also a veteran journalist.
Twitter link: @PMOIndia

Pune Traffic Police

Facebook: 22,495
People discussing about it: 378
In its effective use of the social networks, Pune Traffic Police stands next which keeps its Facebook profile updated every now and then during the day. The beauty of its Facebook campaign is that it also posts updates in the local Marathi language, allowing the non-English users be part of the campaign. Its fan list might not be as high as that of the Delhi Traffic Police. But its fans are active followers of the updates it posts. Besides, it has been able to cut the number of accidents in the city like its Delhi counterpart. It also entertains traffic related complaints on its Facebook page.
Facebook page link: " target="_blank" rel="noopener">