PMO monitoring social media activity of ministers, tutoring them to efficiently use Twitter, Facebook: Report

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Delhi: Narendra Modi government is going all out to tutor its ministers in the 'efficient' use of social media, as per a media report.

According to Mail Today report, in order to maximise citizen engagement, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is personally monitoring the social media activity of each minister.

On the other hand, - MyGov (government's interface with the people) - has taken ministers and ministries under its tutelage.

This is in order to teach them how to put social media platforms to better use and engage more effectively with people.

Interestingly, a workshop for the ministers had been organised earlier in this respect.

Another one was held on May 16 at the same venue at India Habitat Centre (IHC), as per the report.

Last month, India Today had reported that Bharatiya Janata Party's digital cell had tracked social media profiles of all its MPs on instructions from PM Modi.

It was reported that both Twitter and Facebook was taken into account and a six-page report was circulated among all BJP MPs.

The report had apparently listed follower counts of all MPs and the status of their profiles.

As per the report, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had topped the list of star performers with 5 million Twitter followers.

The comment she got was - "ideal activity, worth following".

On the other hand, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari with more than eight lakh Twitter followers had received the following comment - "he is an example of how to run social media, though he can be more interactive."

VK Singh, Kalraj Mishra, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Dr Mahesh Sharma had also been reportedly praised for their Twitter and Facebook activity.

However, most of the other ministers and MPs were found to be lagging behind.

Ministers like Maneka Gandhi, Santosh Gangwar, Dr Ram Shankar Katheria, Sanjeev Balyan, Niranjan Jyoti, Nihalchand, Haribhai Chaudhary and Hansraj Ahir were found to be not so active on social media.

BJP's digital cell report had also highlighted the fact that most of the MPs did not highlight 'government's achievements' online.