More people go online to ‘make railways better’
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/trichy/More-people-go-online-to-make-railways-better/articleshow/49410889.cms
More people concerned about improvements in railway amenities are interacting with authorities of the Southern Railway directly through 'Local Circles', a social media site launched by the Centre for direct interaction between the public and government officials.
The 'Make Railways Better' option on the Local Circles page seeks suggestions from people. The individual can post their opinions the way they do on any social media page, and the railways would respond by email. The forum also has open discussions on general topics concerning the railways, like cleanliness and safety.
Topics like accidents and rail coaches are also discussed in detail on the social media platform.
The officials said that several inputs were being taken regarding the elimination of unmanned railway crossings and bringing out a more clean, effective and passenger-friendly coaches.
The Local Circles page, as the website says, is a social media website for 'Communities, Governance and Urban Policy'. A senior official attached with the Southern Railways said, "The programme was started in the middle of 2014 by the BJP government in order to get an understanding of the root cause of the problems in the railways. The IT team started it as a pilot project with 1 lakh users, but it is making inroads. All the railway divisions have been covered now, and the consultative committee members and passengers are linked."
A Giri, secretary of the Thanjavur Rail Users Association, said the discussion was more effective as the queries were being responded to and likeminded people could air the same grievances.
Mr Giri recently pointed out in the forum that the Thanjavur railway station leaked during the rains and also asked for the gutters in the station to be cleaned. He added that although the announcement on wifi in the station has been made, the project was yet to gain pace. more