THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Close on the heels of criticism that he is shying away from the media, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has launched a smart mode of directly communicating with the public on a real time basis. In an effort to bring the day-to-day activities of the government to the public, Pinarayi has launched his official Facebook page - Chief Minister’s Office, Kerala.
The FB post will be used to communicate the daily working of the government and will have information on government activities, including the Cabinet decisions. Though the page was launched some days ago, it was on Friday that the first post appeared on behalf of the Chief Minister.
In the first Facebook post, the Chief Minister said the page is meant to interact with people on a real basis over various issues handled by the government. The CM added that it’s also a platform for the public to air their concerns, make criticisms and come up with suggestions regarding the government’s activities.
In his first FB post, the Chief Minister has elaborated on the measures taken by his government during its first one month. The decision on restricting the number of ministers to 19, number of personal staff for each minister to 25, having two women ministers in the Cabinet for the first time and avoiding unnecessary parading of women and children for according welcome to ministers and other dignitaries.
All major decisions taken by the Pinarayi cabinet in the last one month have found a place in the page. The attempt is to provide info on government’s work, including the Cabinet decisions, on this page along with Pinarayi Vijayan’s official page. The FB page by the CM’s office has already become popular with the page so far attracting 19,331 likes, 779 shares and 578 comments by Friday evening.
At a time when the CM is under criticism from the Opposition for keeping the media at bay, the new initiative is expected to play a crucial role for the government in information dissemination.
Within hours of launching the page, the CM made his second post - the white paper on state’s financial position that Finance Minister Thoams Isaac presented before the Cabinet on Thursday. Quoting from the white paper, Pinarayi said that the state’s finances were in crisis, posing a major threat to the government’s smooth functioning. The chief minister’s second post also attracted wide attention from Facebook users.