Exclusive: BMC stirs fresh row with proposal to spend Rs 6 crore on social media
The proposal has not gone down well with the opposition which feels that the civic body is not only adopting a reckless approach by draining taxpayers' hard-earned money but also resorting to means that raise several doubts behind the intent of the proposal.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) now feels that in the present digital age, it needs to make various enhancements on social media. And for that, it has put forward a proposal in the corporation for approval.
But the proposal has not gone down well with the opposition which feels that the civic body is not only adopting a reckless approach by draining taxpayers' hard-earned money but also resorting to means that raise several doubts behind the intent of the proposal. The reason why the opposition is taking a hard stance is because as they allege the civic body intends to spend a whooping Rs 6 crore to improve its social media presence.
The proposal reads: 'The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has decided to develop a central social media platform for all departments of the municipality. An MCGM account will be created for each department thereby providing information, updates and programs of various department offices to the citizens.'
It further says that MCGM is using Facebook and Twitter to provide various departmental information, updates and programs to the citizens. The civic body plans to monitor the social media platform so the information about activities undertaken by MCGM for the development of Mumbai, information on services and response to citizens' needs and questions can be addressed effectively, and for that it needs to implement the following:
1. Maintain use of social media platform of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai.
2. Using social media for municipalities to analyse the functioning of various civic services at different stages and collect feedback from citizens to improve the quality of service.
3. Providing citizens with the right information at the right time.
4. To create awareness among citizens about the services of the municipality and to redress the grievances immediately in coordination with the municipal departments.
5. Integrating the municipal grievance redressal module, emergency department, MCGM 24X7 mobile app and other services with the municipal social media platform. The corporation has also decided the total number of manpower required in the departmental offices of the Municipal Corporation by selecting the departments that will respond to the needs and questions of the citizens.
Opposition leader in the BMC Ravi Raja said in tweet: "BMC now will spend 6 crore on managing its social media presence. Exorbitant price administration is paying and that too without inviting bids for it. Is administration favouring a consultant who has good rapport in mantralaya? Why so much favouritism for this consultant? (sic)"
When India Today TV asked him about the issue, Ravi Raja said, "What these people are planning to do is not right. There is already an IT cell in place in the BMC and there is a big budget allocation for the same as well. Plus, why not follow a due process and go with the tender process? Clearly, there isn't transparency here and that's the reason why we are against this move. Tax payers' money cannot be treated in this manner. We as opposition vehemently oppose this proposal."
Samajwadi Party leader Rais Shaikh agreed saying, "This is a complete waste of tax payers' money. This exercise is being undertaken without even a tender. Rather than resorting to such exercises, BMC should concentrate on resolving the complaints of citizens."
However, the Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi defended the proposal asserting that the proposal was prepared as per the government of Maharashtra owned State Maha IT corporation rate contract for a period of three years.
"Aim is to empower all MCGM offices from wards to HOD to respond effectively to all the concerns raised by the citizens on social media and to analyse sectors, areas and officers with special problems so that the grievances can be proactively anticipated and resolved," he said.
When asked that the opposition felt that this was not needed as one IT cell was already in place, the municipal commissioner emphasised that the concerns of the citizens were utmost in the minds and that the MCGM intends to appoint the following type of resources for handling IT and addressing grievances raised by citizens on social media about MCGM services:
1. Field level staff at zones and departments including supervision- 31 resources
2. Content designers/writers/researchers- 3 resources
3. Social media expert- 1 resource