Inactive social media handles of Panchkula DC, Municipal Corporation, police irk residents

Amit Bathla

Panchkula, March 24

Inactive social media handles of the Deputy Commissioner, Municipal Corporation and the police irk local residents, who otherwise could raise their grievances through these platforms. For instance, the last post on the official Twitter handle of Panchkula Deputy Commissioner (DC_PANCHKULA) was uploaded on October 16, 2019. The account is followed by nine users, including Election Commission of India and Chief Electoral Officer, Haryana. Besides, the account has 1,351 followers.

Also, the profile still carries the display picture of the then DC, Vinay Pratap Singh, who was appointed as the Chandigarh DC in November last year. The present Panchkula DC, is Mahavir Kaushik.

Taking a jibe, Mohit Gupta, a city resident, on Twitter stated, “It is probably the best managed official handle of a Deputy Commissioner in the country. Please don’t tag this handle. It is a waste of time.”

Similarly, the Twitter handle of Municipal Corporation, Panchkula, (SwachhPanchkula) is inactive since December 2020.

The account is followed by three users, including Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. It has 1,025 followers.

On the other hand, the Twitter account of the Panchkula police (CP_PANCHKULA), a verified account, had witnessed last activity on March 8 on the occasion of International Women’s Day. The account is followed by 19 users, while it has 13.2k followers.

Facebook accounts of the Panchkula Municipal Corporation and the Panchkula police are dead since a long time.

SK Nayar, president, Citizens’ Welfare Association, said, “Though the government claims to promote e-governance for delivery of services and redressal of grievances, the inactive social media accounts of the administration say otherwise.”

While speaking at an event organised on the occasion of Good Governance Day at Panchkula in December last year, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had claimed that the lives of Haryanvis were being made better through information and technology as their grievances were addressed through several government portals.