PUDUCHERRY: The tussle between Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi and Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy intensified on Thursday after the latter cancelled an order issued by the Congress Government banning the use of social media for official communication.
After cancelling the January 2 issued by the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Ms Bedi took to micro-blogging site Twitter to launch a veiled attack on Mr Narayanasamy, saying “some in position of power instead of using their position of influence to facilitate, do so to obstruct.”
“If Puducherry has to be a progressive UT it cannot be retrograde in communications. Hence @CM_Puducherry’s order stands cancelled,” the Lt. Governor wrote on Twitter. Escalating her fight with Mr Narayanasamy, she asked how the Chief Minister could take away the power of communication.
“I have met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singhji, IT and Communication Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh and apprised them about the issue,” Bedi said, stoutly defending her move to cancel the order.
“Why I cancelled CM Puducherry’s gag order. Its takes us back to non- technology days, not good for #prosperouspuducherry, “ she said. Stung by the public criticism and cancelling of the order, Mr Narayanasamy, however, refused to comment on the issue.
Ms Bedi said since the row was a “major issue” she has left it to the Centre to take a call. “Government of India’s entire grievance redressal mechanism is based on open communication. So many ministries including the External Affairs Ministry is using social media so effectively,” she said.
This was again a veiled attack against the Chief Minister who had opposed the WhatsApp group on the ground that “these social networking sites have servers outside the country.” The latest showdown between Ms Bedi and Mr Narayanasamy began on January 2 when the Puducherry Government directed officials to “not to use social media for interaction with seniors bypassing the administrative hierarchy and routine official channel.”
The Chief Minister's order came soon after the suspension of Puducherry civil service officer A.S. Sivakumar by Ms Bedi for posting obscene video in a WhatsApp group of senior officials. This was interpreted as Chief Minister's move to check the high officials from getting direct instructions from Ms. Bedi on WhatsApp and to reassert the administrative hierarchy structures. Ms Bedi has been encouraging government officials to use social media platforms to official communication and created WhatsApp groups to check the progress of different initiatives started by the government. Chief Minister's order came in contrast to Ms Bedi's push to make use of social media platform.
