BENGALURU: From water and roads problems to government facilities and schemes, villagers can now use the official social media pages to air their grievances and officials concerned will be alerted to take necessary action. All this is thanks to the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR), which is now planning to hear such issues through social media.
This is expected to help villagers who otherwise have to run from pillar to post looking for resolutions to their problems. In Karnataka, there are more than 6,000 gram panchayats and about 30,000 villages. There have been irregularities, misappropriation of funds and even public works not being completed or even taken up. Many cases go unnoticed as informers give in writing and it takes time to reach the concerned.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, L K Ateeq, principal secretary (RDPR), said despite providing training and conducting workshops for panchayat members, they have continued to violate rules. “We are now strengthening our Facebook and Twitter pages, and villagers can raise complaints directly. We will put the complaints to the officials concerned and make sure it gets sorted out,’’ he added, saying that with many people in the rural areas using social media, more people can be reached.