Who would have thought some years ago that an average passenger travelling by train in India could have access to the higher authorities? If a passenger had certain grievances or wanted to draw the attention of the railway authorities to something important then there were only limited options to reach out to the higher authorities. Come Suresh Prabhu and the scene changes. The average passenger now had direct access through social media to not only the higher-ups of the Railways but also the Railways Minister himself.
So, when Dr. Chavan Patil of Phaltan in Satara district of Maharashtra lost his gold chain worth Rs 1.5 lakh in the train toilet while travelling to Manmad, all it took was a tweet from his daughter to the Railway Minister, who replied within ten minutes, to swing the authorities into action, find and retrieve Patil’s gold chain from the railway tracks at Yeola Railway Station in Maharashtra within three days. Perhaps, that is why more and more people are travelling by train now due to this approach of the Railways and this was reflected in the fiscal year 2016-17 when 70 million more passengers had travelled by train when compared to the preceding year. In fact, the increase in the figure of passengers was in contrast to the negative growth in the last 5 years.
These mediums of communication, also known commonly as Social Media, existed even earlier, but it took Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team of Ministers to make effective use of it to directly reach out to the people. While the functioning of the previous Government was opaque, shrouded in secrecy and intrigues with the average citizen having no information about its working, the present Government and its functioning are largely transparent and receptive, and the common man has information of the working through because the present Union Cabinet has utilized the Social Media to benefit the common citizen through information and assistance.
Senior cabinet minister, Sushma Swaraj, in charge of the Ministry of External Affairs is one of the Ministers in the present Union Council of Ministers who has used the Social Media to help people who have had an occasion to interact with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs or its offices, embassies and high commissions. Whether it is Mrs. Sushma Swaraj’s granting of medical visas on humanitarian grounds to Pakistanis wishing to come to India for treatment of serious medical problems to her witty responses, she is one of the most followed and liked politicians on Twitter.
In a recent case, Mrs Sushma Swaraj once again showed why she is so liked by the people on Social Media. On January 18, a twitter user Garima tweeted to Minister Mrs. Sushma Swaraj asking for help for the grant of an urgent visa under “medical emergency” because her husband based in Dubai had suffered a brain stroke and was in a critical condition.
https://twitter.com/agg_garima/status/953938935838736384
To compound her problem, the UAE embassy in India is closed on Fridays. Her cause was also taken up by some other twitter users who requested the Minister to help Garima.
I am feeling so frustrated. Almost time up now. Sushmaji helps so many foreigners. Won't she help Garima?
— Nayanika (@nayanikaaa) January 18, 2018
Marking @UAEembassyIndia
— Sankrant Sanu सानु संक्रान्त ਸੰਕ੍ਰਾਂਤ ਸਾਨੁ (@sankrant) January 18, 2018
Mam @SushmaSwaraj pls help Garima. It is a critical situation which needs your intervention. Please help her reach Dubai. https://t.co/3gMztf6kZv
— Rita 🇮🇳 (@RitaG74) January 18, 2018
.@SushmaSwaraj Madam kindly use your good offices https://t.co/6Ex1D0aVAO
— Vikas Saraswat (@VikasSaraswat) January 18, 2018
As expected, Mrs. Sushma Swaraj did not let Garima down. The Minister of External Affairs tweeted on the same date “I am sorry to know this. Rest assured we will definitely help you.”
I am sorry to know this. Rest assured we will definitely help you. https://t.co/5atut3mNV6
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) January 19, 2018
Within minutes, Mrs Sushma Swaraj followed up the first tweet with the one that informed Garima about the help extended by the Consulate General of India in Dubai and to keep her informed of the same.
I have also asked Vipul our @cgidubai to provide all help to your husband in the hospital and keep you informed. https://t.co/5atut3mNV6
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) January 19, 2018
Mrs Swaraj even informed the people in general that if the aggrieved persons address their issue to the concerned Embassy or High Commission then the matters would be expedited. She further reassured the people when she said in her tweet “I monitor their replies to you personally”. For any average person in distress such a response coming from the country’s foreign minister is not only reassuring but also provides the much-needed succor.
https://twitter.com/SushmaSwaraj/status/954181020357570560
Mrs Sushma Swaraj did not merely leave it here. She even called up Garima personally while on her way to Puducherry. This information was revealed by Garima herself in a tweet who said that Mrs Swaraj had also informed her that the Embassy was working on her case since the previous night itself when she had first tweeted about her case.
https://twitter.com/agg_garima/status/954188044071976960
After the news of Mrs Sushma Swaraj calling her up personally was shared by Garima, adulations from the common people started pouring in for the Minister. Ravi Mantha hailed Mrs Swaraj’s compassion and even suggested that if compassion were an Olympic sport then Sushma Swaraj would win the Gold Medal.
If #compassion were an olympic sport, gold medal would go to Sushmaji.
My friend @dhume asked why she spends her time on individual cases,in a country of 1bn.
It's because leadership like this is infectious,&will infuse all our embassy staff with same qualities. @SushmaSwaraj https://t.co/KLgKbgaD0f— Ravi Mantha (We/Us) (@rmantha2) January 19, 2018
https://t.co/BfaT1rhecV@waglenikhil this is the Modi led India.
— LeftArmOrthodox (@ameyaab) January 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/vinish_ind/status/954195055270445057
Perhaps, so far there has only been one once incident in which the Indian Minister of External Affairs, Mrs Sushma Swaraj could not help the user with his grievance. In June 2016 Mrs Sushma Swaraj expressed her helplessness at resolving the problem of malfunctioning and repairs of a Twitter user’s Samsung refrigerator. She tweeted, “Brother I cannot help you in matters of a Refrigerator. I am very busy with human beings in distress”. This witty response by her even led to a question in the latest season of famous game-show Kaun Banega Crorepati hosted by Amitabh Bachchan.
Brother I cannot help you in matters of a Refrigerator. I am very busy with human beings in distress. https://t.co/cpC5cWBPcz
— Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) June 13, 2016
Different people use Social Media for different purposes. Leaders of the world’s largest democracy such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mrs. Sushma Swaraj and Suresh Prabhu who are elected by the people have redefined the way Social Media has been used by them to connect with the same common people who elected them and who are represented by them. Such an exemplary use of Social Media was not thought of by anyone till a few years ago. It is an example which, leaders of not just India’s neighbouring countries but those of other countries must try to emulate, for it is the surest way to connect with the people directly using modern technology to resolve their issues.
