WhatsApp is now being used to repair bad roads in Bihar in yet another example of the government trying to connect with citizens through the chat app. The state’s Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav announced the news via his Twitter account.
Yadav is also the road construction minister for the state and is thus responsible for its upkeep. According to his tweet, people can directly send a Whatsapp message to 9470001346 to complain about the condition of the roads in the region under the Output and Performance Based Road Assets Maintenance Contract (OPRMC).
The Deputy Chief Minister claims this will ensure more quality and efficiency. As per IANS, road construction department officials within the government have backed this assertion, stating that Yadav is utilizing WhatsApp as a new tool to make sure people can directly tell the administration to repair or construct roads.
The officials went on to assert that the new system is a people-friendly experiment which will help ensure there are better roads across the state. Taking advantage of WhatsApp’s huge user base within India is a solid idea, especially since it’ll be more accessible than the existing system.
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The current procedure can be ineffectual since people are required to submit their complaint to the relevant department which is then forwarded on to an engineer. The time-consuming process would lead to a delay in conducting the necessary road repairs.
While Yadav’s WhatsApp system is a solid start to opening up dialogues between the citizens of Bihar and the government, it will only be a success if the administration actually follows through on complaints promptly.