If there is one redundant and ceremonial platform of the Government of India, which must be done away with immediately, it is MyGov.in. MyGov is a “citizen engagement platform” which looks at making the people of India active participants in the governance of the nation. Noble, indeed. But MyGov joining TikTok undoes all that work.
MyGov.in, perhaps in a bid to increase their nose-diving engagement, decided to get on to TikTok, the notorious Chinese app which is being frowned upon by innumerable Indians. On which date MyGov decided to get on to TikTok is not clear yet, however, what is definitely evident is their absolute indifference towards the call of Indians who are seeking a ban on TikTok.
. @mygovindia makes account on #TikTok
Me, a proBJP nationalist supporting this move:🙌
-Account will gain followers quickly
-It will post few videos against China
-China will make Tiktok delete the video
-This will give GoI concrete reason to ban TikTok
-Tiktok gets banned.😎 pic.twitter.com/adkUhsW9BW— Rahul Pandey (@RahulPandey1605) June 6, 2020
Moreover, the development comes at a time when both India and China are engaged in a military standoff in Eastern Ladakh. This should have served as reason enough for MyGov to refrain from hopping on to the Chinese comical platform, however, they definitely consider themselves wiser. The TikTok account of the citizen engagement platform has attracted over 875k followers so far. It has also posted over 20 videos on the mind-control platform already.
So @mygovindia is on @TikTok_IN. The same chinese app that so many people want to uninstall.
See for yourself https://t.co/DV3KkbKZQI pic.twitter.com/7GgiszV8gg
— Twesh Mishra (@TweshMishra) June 6, 2020
Now, I will admit that many were taken aback by this development, including myself. How can the government board on to TikTok at a time when there is such public anger against the app, and China in particular? However, what many are thinking is wrong. MyGov is not a representation of the Government of India. It is among one of the initiatives started by the government in 2014, in order to narrow the gap between the electorate and executive, as PM Modi said. The nomenclature of the initiative would make people believe that this is the Government of India getting on to TikTok, however, the reality is quite different.
MyGov was started as an engagement platform in 2014. While it caught initial steam and the public responded positively too, it has, over the past five years, slipped into non-relevance. The only significant headline which the redundant platform has made in a very long time, perhaps, is yesterday’s news of it joining TikTok.
What was started as an admirable and noble initiative has proven to be nothing more than another medium for the government to expend its revenues, without substantial returns. MyGov has essentially become a quiz and questionnaire platform, apart from a destination where government funds are uselessly spent. MyGov’s engagement is low (which is why they depend on people in power for supplying them with little traction), and to top it all, they have begun working as the many other governmental news platforms. To put it bluntly, they are occupying unwanted space and should be done away with.
The government too, must pay closer attention to what such platforms started by it are up to. My guess is that MyGov would have taken a sovereign decision to hop on to TikTok in complete contrast to the larger public sentiment prevalent in India today. An Aatmanirbhar Bharat’s journey can definitely not go via TikTok.