HYDERABAD: Who says cops can’t have a sense of humour? Proving just that, the admins of the Hyderabad Traffic Police Facebook page are breaking the monotony of boring official posts. While HTP’s FB (verified account) page was known to be active and responsive for years now, we Hyderabadis only recently started to get a glimpse of their lighter side. Responsible for that are Hari Nath Reddy and Hidayathulla, aka Admin H and Admin SK respectively, both of whom are a part of the police department as well.
“Many don’t know, but the Hyderabad Traffic Police page (nearly 2.9 lakh likes) has been active since 2012. However, the posts were usually very formal, like traffic diversions, general warnings against violence etc. About seven months ago, hesitantly I put up a humourous post and it went down with the page followers really well. Our superiors too weren’t against it. Of course, the official announcements and posts still hold their place,” shares Hari Nath Reddy who handles the Facebook page between 8 am and 2 pm. Despite the praises pouring in for their unusual way of handling an official page, Hari Nath assures that the attention isn’t the reason for the switch. Says Hari Nath, “Our humourous posts have thousands of ‘likes’ as compared to a formal post which is usually barely in the hundreds. We also figured that the more people it reaches, the more chances of people following the rules. If humour is what motivates the public to follow the rules, then I’m happy to give them just that.”
In the recent times, HTPs tongue-in-cheek posts got a lot of appreciation. This includes the infamous, “Dear drunken drivers, See you tonight!” which was posted on December 31 as a warning to not drive when drunk. The post alone garnered about 4,000 likes. Meanwhile the responses of the admins on nasty comments too are worth noticing. When a fan commented to release anchor Pradeep who was caught for drunken driving on New Year’s Eve, the admin gracefully replied, “Celebrities andarki aadarsam ga undali (Celebrities should set an example to everyone)”
While both Hari Nath and Hidayathullah admit that the number of personal messages to the page has increased in the past few months, there are a few which are negative or demotivating. They however, do not lose hope. Hidayath, who mans the 2 pm to 8 am shift says, “If there are a hundred messages, a couple of negative messages are bound to come up. But we focus on the job and whether positive or negative try to keep order.” What used to be about 50 messages a day went up to over thousands, they say.
Hidayath explains, “Amongst these thousands of messages, we address small grievances and any issues that are of larger order (like a broken divider or a faulty traffic signal) are forwarded to our superiors for necessary action. Later we are required to update the complainant regarding their issue as well. Since we resorted to being more casual in our posts, the public has begun to see us as more approachable and are opening up more about their issues as well.” Is HTPs page taking after Bengaluru Traffic Police who have been earlier lauded for their posts? “We are all part of the same department and we are acquainted with Bengaluru Traffic Police department as well. No competition here,” clarifies Hari Nath.
Despite the heavy work load and the barrage of messages, the admins are dedicated to the cause of making the most of their position. They concur as they sign off, “If humour is what it takes for people to appreciate and follow the rules, then we don’t mind resorting to it. At the end of the day, public safety is the motto.”
— Palaparthi Srividya
srividya.palaparthi@newindianexpress.com
Twitter@PSrividya53