Social media has been quite helpful in highlighting various social and governance-related issues and, therefore, has been a quite effective tool in grievance redressal; and its proper use in this context can actually augment good governance.
But what is governance? Governance is the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). And according to the United Nations, Good Governance is measured by eight factors, Participation, Rule of Law, Transparency, Responsiveness, Consensus Oriented, Equity and Inclusiveness, Effectiveness and Efficiency and Accountability.
However, the question remains how far have we succeeded as a nation in achieving good governance as criminalisation of politics, corruption, gender disparity, growing incidences of violence, delay in justice, centralisation of the administrative system and marginalisation of the socially and economically backward people create a real threat and challenge to good governance.
Social media has been quite elemental in tiding over the challenges to ensure good governance and is one such instrument through which all the key components of good governance seem quite achievable. For example, through social media, we can upload any photos, videos or statements of discrepancies in administration and government mechanism, right from lack of delivery of services, problems in schools, roads, hospitals to elections. Today, anything and everything can be recorded, uploaded and viewed by millions within minutes of its upload. This has, in fact, enhanced public participation in governance; and even the ‘not-so-accountable bureaucracy’ often finds itself more accountable even more than the political executive. And this has resulted in 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’.
*Grievance redressal and good governance
A grievance redressal mechanism is an integral part of the government machinery/ administration. For an administration to be responsive, accountable and people-friendly, it needs to have a robust and effective grievance redressal mechanism. According to the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, the Grievance Redressal Mechanism is the “gauge to measure” the “effectiveness and efficiency” of a government as it provides important “feedback on the working of the administration”. The online grievance redressal mechanism has witnessed an increase during the Covid-19 pandemic situation either through designated government portals or social media platforms as services such as ration, special permissions, health facilities and curfew passes were made available on considering online appeals from citizens. Tall political leaders like Chief Ministers and Ministers of different States appealed to their counterparts in other States to take care of the migrant laborers from their areas using social media.
But the problem is that social media users are often clouded with the uncertainty about the response from the concerned authority and about the time to be taken by him/her to reply or respond. Because of this, though there is a right to make a representation, there is no legitimate expectation to receive a reply over social media.
To incentivise government response to the appeals made through social media, it is important to include response to social media grievances as a key indicator of Good Governance Index (GGI), The CGI 2021 Framework covered ten sectors and 58 indicators. The sectors of GGI 2020-21 are 1) Agriculture and Allied Sectors, 2) Commerce & Industries, 3) Human Resource Development, 4) Public Health, 5.) Public Infrastructure & Utilities, 6) Economic Governance, 7) Social Welfare & Development, 8) Judicial & Public Security, 9) Environment and 10) Citizen-Centric Governance. The GGI 2020-21 categorises States and UTs into four categories, (i) Other States – Group A; (ii) Other States – Group B; (iii) North-East and Hill States; and (iv) Union Territories. According to the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, in Good Governance Index, GGI 2021 Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa top the composite rank score covering the 10 sectors. Odisha had topped in human resource development and economic governance.
We as a country have a huge potential to effectively adopt the practice of grievance redressal through use of social media. India has the highest mobile data consumption rate at 12 GB per user a month. As of March 2022, we have more than 1.2 billion mobile connections, over 700 million internet users and 600 million smartphones, which are propelling by 25 million per quarter. In the previous 10 years, India has witnessed an immense improvement in its digital connectivity. The development of infrastructure in telecom sector has made fibre-based internet connectivity and 5G mobile network possible, which in turn will further strengthen the digital connectivity. Smartphones with fast internet have proliferated the use of social media.
According to the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, the numbers of users in various social media platforms are:
• WhatsApp users: 53 Crore
• YouTube users: 44.8 Crore
• Facebook users: 41 Crore
• Instagram users: 21 Crore
• Twitter users: 1.75 Crore
Grievance redressal mechanism is one of best avenues for the government/ government agencies to communicate with the public and social media can be the most-preferred platform for effective public engagement and grievance redressal. Also, the government will be able to keep citizens informed about the policy and issues that matter most to them. The government can use social media to regularly organise town halls, educate citizens on safety issues and engage community groups. This shall definitely augment good governance as citizens’ grievances can be addressed at the earliest.
To conclude, social media can be effectively turned into an important part of the grievance redressal mechanism and can truly augment good governance, but for that, we need necessary commitment from the government to resolve and address the issues raised through social media. Besides, the social media users should look to adhere to a few key points while using social media for enhanced grievance redressal:
• Clarity on the grievance, which they want the Government to address.
• Identifying the proper social media handle: Identify the proper social media handle which they must approach for their concerned problem.
• Tagging the authority: Tag the right authorities, who will be able to reach the citizen.
• Ensure commenting on relevant issue: Comment on issues relevant to your grievance topic area and make relevant and pertinent comments. This will make conversation productive and help take it to its logical conclusion.
• Proper etiquette: Be Polite, Be Discrete and Be Respectful to all, and do not make personal comments for or against any individuals or agencies. Also, professional discussions should not be politicised.
• Compliance: Be compliant with relevant rules and regulations. Do not infringe upon IPR or the copyright of others.
• Privacy: Do not reveal personal information about other individuals as well as do not publish your own private and personal details unless you wish for them to be made public to be used by others.
(The writer is an Additional Central Government Standing Counsel, Central Administrative Tribunal, Cuttack Bench, and a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law and Media Studies, School of Mass Communication, KIIT University. This piece of writing is an excerpt from the speech prepared to be delivered at a workshop organised by Association of Twitter Activists, Puri on 11.04.2022. Views are personal)
