Social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and other apps to receive grievances
Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation. (Photo: DC/File)
Visakhapatnam: The civic body is now adopting technology to smarten the public grievance system in a novel way replacing the existing traditional system and aiming at involving the city population for more transparency.
Since the city is being elevated as a smart one, officials are also considering utilising the technology as a platform to share plans, opinion from the city populace, incorporating suggestions of huge think tank, and views of the government on how to go about future development plans keeping in view of the city needs.
Currently, there are ‘Dial your commissioner' and ‘Grievance day’ and other traditional activities where officials and people have to spend much of their time for submitting/receiving grievances.
The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation has a website: www.gvmc.gov.in, has the most disheartening features and content which the viewers find boring. It has details of some of the initiatives of the corporation along with some details about people and details whom to contact for communicating their grievances.
Interestingly, the corporation also has an exclusive IT wing. Though the site has been periodically updated by outsourced developers still it lacks the vibrancy and simple navigation details and people face difficulty even for online payment of taxes. Now, officials have plans to mingle with the public through social network where they can share views, criticism, ideas, and their day-to-day grievances.
Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and most popular apps like WhatsApp would be utilised to receive complaints and suggestions from the citizens.
People can upload pictures that depict actual scenario of sanitation, bad condition roads, and any other local problems through any social media and other popular applications for immediate action.
Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation commissioner Pravin Kumar said, “We open accounts of the GVMC in all these social networking sites and on other applications for more convenience of the city population on experimental basis. We would review the feedback and improve the system later. Youth groups of Vizag are very active and they regularly share their views on many issues and we want to make use of such discussions and positive criticism for the development of the city. We prefer transparency and every programme or plan should be shared with people” added the senior official.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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