Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation authorities have started using the WhatsApp tool for a faster and effective civic administration. Commissioner of the corporation Krishan Kumar has created a 20-member group on WhatsApp in October. In the past two months, this group has enabled “Team BMC” to organise meetings, monitor sanitation activities and carry out eviction drives much faster than it used to happen in the past. The Telegraph presents two situations in which the messaging system ensured proper and prompt action
A popular mobile messaging application platform (app) that allows users to send texts, photos, audio or video to other user or users. Unlike mobile text messaging, the service is free. However, mobile Internet connection is a must. Users are also allowed to create groups and send unlimited messages to each other
User friendly
The commissioner updates pictures of damaged bus stops, garbage bins, parks and internal roads with messages for officials concerned on what should be done.
A senior civic official said: “We hold a meeting in the afternoon and by evening I get the agenda approved by the commissioner’s office. I will take a picture on my tab and upload it on our group, so that they can see it immediately and come prepared with their inputs. It is more convenient than e-mail.”
On the alert
“Subjects indicated in the updates by the commissioner work as reminders for officials in charge of the city sanitation, projects, enforcement, taxation, markets and the engineering section. Eventually, they take stock of the situation and come to meetings with action taken reports,” said deputy commissioner (projects and public relations) Srimanta Mishra.
“We were very happy when President Pranab Mukherjee praised Bhubaneswar as the cleanest among the Tier-II cities in India in his speech at the golden jubilee celebrations of the Rama Devi Women’s Autonomous College on November 30. We already have a Facebook page on Clean India Campaign and now the WhatsApp tool has come handy,” Mishra said.
Future plan
Use of IT-based tools has become popular with the civic body officials. Environment expert Bijay Mishra said: “The officials are using WhatsApp. However, they should come up with a common app that residents can download on their smartphones and use it to communicate their grievances and suggestion with the officials.”
App of its own
Sources said corporation was working on a common app for people to interact with officials. “After two years, our information technology project management unit has resumed functioning. We hope to make the app available to the public shortly,” Mishra said.
Text by Bibhuti Barik, pictures by Ashwinee Pati
