CHENNAI: Visitors walking into the chambers of ministers at the secretariat will no longer be able to pull out their phones for a quick picture or reel. But they won’t walk away empty-handed either. A QR code displayed outside the chamber will allow them to download a professionally clicked photograph with the minister on the same day.
The move comes in the wake of a recent incident in which a visitor recorded a video inside Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s chamber. Soon, the ministers imposed a blanket ban on the use of mobile phones to take photographs or videos inside their chambers at Fort St George, a senior minister told TNIE. Designated photographers have been deployed in ministers’ offices to click photographs of visitors with the minister and upload them online, the minister said.
“A lot of them come in distress and to submit petitions. Some of them want to take a picture to record that they have submitted a complaint to the ministers and share it as proof to the stakeholders concerned. Taking a picture builds confidence in them that their grievances will be addressed,” another minister told TNIE.
The system is already in place in several ministerial offices at the secretariat. QR-code posters have been put up outside the chambers of ministers Aadhav Arjuna, A Srinath, N Marie Wilson and A Rajmohan. Outside Rajmohan’s office, the QR codes are updated daily, with separate sheets carrying links to photos taken on a particular date. A notice outside Aadhav Arjuna’s chamber also requests visitors to restrict meetings to the designated visiting hour between 5 pm and 6 pm.
