TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Goa’s technocrat Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has finally given in to the social networking tide, this time in a bid to counter ‘lies’ being spread about him.
In a Facebook status update on Sunday, June 2 , Parrikar posted that henceforward he will regularly update the social media space with “activities and stand of the government”.
Parrikar said the decision was to counter the spread of lies on social media.
“…While social media is a great medium to reach out to people, of late, it has been used by many, probably with vested interests to spread blatant lies. While I respect criticism based on facts, Facebook has increasingly become a medium to spread lies. Though I had ignored this in the past, the wrong information provided could be taken by many as truth in [the] absence of (knowledge of) facts. Through my updates, I will bring to you the activities and stand of the government and also the facts. Regular updates to follow,” Parrikar said in what is just his third public post since coming to power in March last year.
The first being “Thank You..!! I promise to deliver..” after the BJP won a clear majority. His second post announced the date, time and venue of the public swearing-in ceremony of his cabinet.
Despite the rarity of public posts~ which he has now indicated will be more frequent~ Parrikar has a huge fan following of 43,050 people and 5,050 friends, figures that are expected to grow significantly now.
This one post itself got 3438 likes, over two 200 shares and nearly 800 comments.
Parrikar also used the opportunity to speak of his government’s achievements “despite a drastic drop in revenue.”
“After 15 months of taking over as chief minister of the state, the journey has been full of ups and downs. However, due to relentless efforts, the government has managed to implement most of the promised welfare schemes despite drastic drop in revenue…,” Parrikar’s Facebook post reads.
Legislators Vijai Sardessai as well as Reginaldo Lourenco are active on social networking sites with regular updates about their opinions on issues concerning the state.
Several citizen Facebook groups too have become popular like Goanet, Ami Niz Goenkar, Goa Against Corruption and the like where civic, political and social issues are hotly debated.
