COIMBATORE: In a novel initiative, the Tamil Nadu government on Monday sent out personalised text messages to the public highlighting key announcements for each district in the state budget.
The links to Twitter posts on the announcements for the districts were included in the message. According to officials, the links directed users to the DIPR’s official Twitter feed, where they could view the full text of the budget announcements.
According to a senior official in the Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), a social media cell was set up at the Secretariat for the initiative to list out the budget announcements to the public immediately. It had accessed the database (mobile numbers) of government schemes, district- and taluk-wise, through the Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency.
Further, nodal officers were appointed for each department and they were instructed to alert the social media cell on important announcements. The cell then sent them out via social media cards and text messages, with support from service providers.