Amid Covid-19 pandemic, officials in Maharashtra adapt to new ways of governance

From being accustomed to clearing a large number of files daily to solving issues on Twitter and Facebook, officials are adapting to the new ways of governance,

From being accustomed to clearing a large number of files daily to solving issues on Twitter and Facebook, officials are adapting to the new ways of governance, especially amid the Covid-19 pandemic. HT speaks to a few government officials to understand the change.

HT Image

Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation

After taking up his role as the assistant commissioner of G-N ward in Mumbai in June 2019, Dighavkar started a campaign called the “footpath challenge” on Twitter. He asked citizens to send pictures/videos of broken or potholed footpaths – a common problem in the city – and said the municipal corporation would fix it within 24 hours. “The campaign went on for three-four months, by when we undertook repairs at almost 169 locations,” Dighavkar recalled.

As a ward official, he also created WhatsApp groups, including representatives from different citizen organisations. His jurisdiction includes the central areas of Dadar, Mahim, Prabhadevi and even India’s largest slum – Dharavi. “There is a separate group for each suburb - Dadar, Mahim, Dharavi – where residents post complaints about illegal construction or garbage issues. We try to address these as soon as possible,” he said.

In the limelight for his ‘Dharavi model’ to control Covid, which was also hailed by the World Health Organization (WHO), Dighavkar also used Twitter to create awareness on social distancing, the current trends in the ward and steps being taken by the municipal corporation to deal with the pandemic. Until recently, Dighavkar also shared information with citizens on facilities being created by the corporation for Ganesh visarjan.

Dighavkar said during the lockdown, he received pictures from citizens of crowding on Twitter, which the ward would address. He said one needs to be careful about the information being put out, as it can be “interpreted wrongly.”

Ask him if social media has changed his governance style and Dighavkar says, “I will not say that social media has changed our style of governance. I would say that it is yet another forum for complaint redressal.”

Manisha Mhaiskar, principal secretary, environment and climate change, Maharashtra government

A senior bureaucrat of the Maharashtra government, when Manisha Mhaiskar was deputed to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as part of the Covid-19 task force in April 2020, coronavirus was still “unknown” and BMC was also facing a lot of flak from citizens.

Mhaiskar then began a series of posts on Facebook, which she called “Coronavirus Task Force” (CTF) or the “glass half full” narrative. She used the medium to spread awareness about Covid-19, when it was still emerging, the work being done by BMC, the general dos and don’ts and even risk assessment charts.

“The risk assessment chart was widely shared by people. It analysed various daily activities based on risk of exposure and advised people to follow the risk assessment chart in their new normal daily life,” said Mhaiskar. She added the posts were also a way to document the kind of work being done by BMC in tough times.

In her role as a principal secretary of the environment department, Mhaiskar is contemplating thinking of connecting to people via social media and encouraging them to undertake a pledge to save the environment. “Even if you take a small pledge, of using only cloth bags from now on, you are helping save the environment,” she said.

Ask her about using social media for governance and she says, “The same question was asked when computers were introduced. Any new invention is just another tool. It depends on how one uses it,” she said.

Suman Chandra, district collector, Buldhana

As the district collector of Buldhana, in the Amravati division of the state, Suman Chandra started an initiative called e-lokshahi, a dedicated helpline number through which people could register their complaints, or just WhatsApp it. “Once we receive such complaints, they are sent to the departments concerned. Not all problems are addressed via this medium, but administrators at least get a feel of what is bothering people and try to resolve them,” said Chandra.

The administrator is also active on Twitter and her account is open to general complaints, many of which she looks at solving real-time. “It (Twitter) helps me build a great rapport with my district citizenry,” she told HT via WhatsApp.

Ask her about this style of governance and Chandra says, “Leveraging technology to address public grievance is a great way to bridge the gap, especially during Covid-19.”

Ashwini Bhide, additional municipal commissioner, BMC

A senior bureaucrat of the Maharashtra government, Ashwini Bhide has a huge following on Twitter (55.7K). Bhide, as the additional municipal commissioner at Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, has been sharing Covid data on Twitter and also addressing various queries by citizens. In her previous role as the managing director of Metro-3, a fully-underground Metro corridor in Mumbai, Bhide was constantly hailed for the valuable updates she would post about the progress of the project. Bhide did not wish to comment on the issue.