Madurai collectorate uses social networking to address citizen woes
To make it simpler for the citizen to file his complaint, the Madurai collectorate has started to use social networking in a big way, and has set up a team that scours through the various petitions filed online and take necessary action, reports A Ganesh Nadar
Manu Needhi Naal' is a well-known concept in rural Tamil Nadu. 'Manu' means petition, 'Needhi' means justice and 'Naal' means day. It is the day where you get your grievances redressed. It's usually on Monday, the first working day of the week.
On this day all bureaucrats are supposed to be in their office to meet the public and address their grievances.
In Tamil Nadu it's also very normal to go to any government office on other days and hear, 'Saar gone for camp' sans any other explanation as to where the said officer has gone, or when he will be back. It's a much-abused concept dating back to the British Raj when officers used to actually camp in villages till the work was done.
Naturally, if you go to any collectorate on a Monday in Tamil Nadu, you will see thousands of people waiting in queue to file their petitions. There are dozens of professional writers outside the collectorate filling out petitions. All they need is a pen, the paper you buy from another entrepreneur.
Going to the collectorate on Monday will take the entire day to have your petition filed. And in case you don't succeed, you return the next Monday.
To make it simpler for the citizen to file his petition, the Madurai collectorate has started to use social networking in a big way, and has set up a team that scours through the various petitions filed online and take necessary action.
The team operates from the collectors home, where a room with five computers has been set aside for the purpose. Interestingly, the home is called the camp office another throwback to the Raj.
What does this team do? Spend the entire day going through Facebook, that's what. But unlike elsewhere, this is their work they monitor the page http://www.facebook.com/collectormadurai.
This page is the brainchild of the collector, Anshul Mishra. It was launched on June 18, 2012, and receives 30 to 40 complaints every day. Those who complain here need not go to the collectorate on Monday.
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Madurai collectorate uses social networking to address citizen woes