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Monday Musings: Ajit Pawar’s social media conundrum is all about the timing
Was it for the first time government was appointing outside agency to operate social media accounts? Various institutions within the government - be it Police or municipal corporations or ministers - have hired services of private agencies to handle their social media accounts
Last week when Maharashtra government decided to appoint a private agency to handle the social media accounts of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, it drew sharp criticism from all the quarters. One reason for criticism was the government was willing to pay ₹6 crores amid raging Covid crisis when state is grappling with paucity of funds. The ₹6 crores was for a year -2021-22. Pawar later ordered he does not need a separate agency though debate continued to rage on.
Was it for the first time government was appointing outside agency to operate social media accounts? Various institutions within the government - be it Police or municipal corporations or ministers - have hired services of private agencies to handle their social media accounts.
The success recipe for social media these days is more important than the actual work done by respective entities. It helps politicians, police and other government agencies to create an image that is appreciated by an outside world.
At the same time, a lot of it is also useful to common citizens.
In one of his interviews in January 2020, K Vekatesham, former police commissioner, Pune, said, “After the city police became active on social media, people’s engagement with police had increased, while at the same time their faith in the law enforcement agency also improved.”
This was after the city police roped in a private agency to operate its Twitter, and other social media accounts, in 2019.
The digitally-savvy Pune police started using pop culture and millennial slang to speak to youngsters. From several witty responses, to polite yet firm messages, netizens began enjoying the quick and smart replies on the Pune police Twitter handle that had shut out some “extra smart” accounts, asking about drugs or the cell numbers of women.
The active social media account helped Pune police carve out a better image for its Pune unit.
To handle the accounts, Sunchika Pandey, a Mumbai- based journalist-turned-social media consultant helped the Pune police. Pandey had previously helped the Mumbai police stay ahead in the social media game.
“My agency’s job is to only guide them on strengths and weaknesses of social media, which can make or mar anyone’s image,” Pandey had said in her interview to Hindustan Times in 2020, (Meet the Meme Queen who radicalised Pune police’s social media game... for the better).
For many agencies, Pandey and her media firm have been game changers. While Pandey did not share specific details, agencies in Pune and Mumbai hiring her services were paying crores of rupees.
So why did Ajit Pawar invite criticism that forced him to immediately ask the government not to go ahead with his proposal to hire a specialist agency to handle his social media account? There are many ministers and politicians who have roped in private agencies to do the same.
In Pawar’s case, it was more due to timing and the payment, which in previous instances did was not made public. The proposal was to spend ₹6 crore on the deputy chief minister’s social media accounts, even though the government has a Directorate General of Information and Public Relations (DGIPR) department.
The department has a staff strength of 1,200 across Maharashtra with an annual budget of ₹150 crore.
If the DGIPR, as claimed in the same order issued to hire a private agency for Pawar’s account, lacks professional and technical competence to handle social media, the government could spend the same money that it was to allocate for Pawar to train the staff.
That will be of use to all the ministers, including the chief minister, and to various departments.
