Indian Government invests 22.5cr for a Social Media Wing

The Governing bodies are there to help; to listen; and to act. Now your problems, suggestions and compliments are a tweet away. The Indian Government is going to spend 22.5cr rupees to build a media wing that will help them to handle communications on Social Media.

As per the report on Medianama: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the proposal for establishing a ‘New Media Wing’ that will address the communication and dissemination requirements of the government on social media. The proposal for its establishment was drawn on the basis of the experience of its pilot program on the social media platforms such as Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.

The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for establishing a New Media Wing under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to handle government’s social media platforms. The expenditure for the new unit and the recurring expenditure would cost Rs 22.5 crore during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), which has been approved by the CCEA under Development Communication & Information Dissemination plan scheme of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

We are not sure whether the government plans to outsource its social media mandate to agencies or does it have an in-house team.

Social media has become an important means for the government to broadcast news and information as both citizens and media persons are increasingly turning to social networking sites to get their news.

The Union minister for information and broadcasting Manish Tewari says,

"Social media is being used by several citizens to consume news. This is a way to increase the government's presence online, officially."

We have seen Mr. Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, BJP as well as congress parties on Social Media. Even Government bodies such as planning commission are being involved in social media initiatives.

Planning Commission and Its Outlook Towards Social Media – Interview with Mr. Vikas Bagri

How will this pan out for both the government and public, only time will tell.