Social media works best to take officials to task: Citizens

BENGALURU: Seventy-year-old MB Nataraj says he is a citizen aware of his civic rights. For the past 40 years, he has made it a point to lodge complaints about every issue he has faced regarding traffic, power, property tax, etc. However, only after government agencies got their official Twitter handles, has he been able to hold them accountable.

“I took the picture of an abandoned vehicle and tagged Bengaluru Traffic Police on Twitter. They responded immediately and within two days, the owner was traced and the vehicle was removed. Previously, I used to submit hand-written complaints or call government departments, which they ignored. Now they are accessible on social media,” said Nataraj, a resident of Mahalakshmi layout, who had similar experiences with BESCOM’s Twitter handle.

In another instance, he was following up with the State Election Commission for a year to get the name on his voter ID rectified. When he complained on Twitter, the authorities directed him to the concerned BBMP zonal office and the name was rectified within one-and-a-half months. “Authorities don’t want to be seen as unresponsive,” he opined.

Aswin Krishnan, resident of Harlur, finds Facebook a convenient platform to get his complaints resolved. “For power failure and phone line connections, I have complained to BESCOM and BSNL on Facebook, where they responded immediately and sent someone to my house to fix the problem. If I called them over phone, they would promise to send someone but no one would turn up. On social media, authorities fear public bashing and respond immediately,” said Krishnan.

As social media platforms have the option to post photos of complaints, it makes it easier to get problems resolved. Aravindan R, resident of Kanakapura, said, “Earlier, I would not be able to take down the licence plate number of a motorist riding on a footpath in time. Now, I just have to take a picture on my phone and post it on Facebook or Twitter for a swift response.”

Krishnamurthy B, general manager, customer relations, BESCOM, said, “We get a lot of calls on the helpline and sometimes, the line may be busy. It is not that we are under pressure because of being in the public eye when it comes to Twitter or Facebook. Each consumer is given priority irrespective of the channel they use to reach us.” 

He explains that when people call the helpline, they have to wait for an acknowledgement and docket number. 

“We then we call them to follow up. With social media, all the details are there in the post, so it is quicker to act upon it,” he said.