On social media-savvy agri min’s tweet feed, Mandsaur is missing

Radha Mohan Singh discusses weed problem in Kerala a day after six farmers were killed in police firing in Madhya Pradesh

GN Bureau | June 8, 2017


#twitter   #agriculture ministry   #Radha Mohan Singh   #protesting farmers   #Mandsaur   #Digital India   #Narendra Modi  


Given prime minister Narendra Modi's penchant for social media, every ministry and department has focused on Twitter, Facebook et al to reach out to the voter, and so has the agriculture ministry, but the protesting farmers don't seem to be aware of that. On the other hand, the official Twitter handle of the agricultural department of the agriculture ministry and the union agricultural minister’s own Twitter feed are yet to make any reference to the killing of six farmers in Madhya Pradesh.

When the police opened fire on Tuesday at Mandsaur farmers who were demanding higher price for their produce and waiver of agricultural loan, union agricultural minister Radha Mohan Singh was in Imamganj, Gaya where he addressed a NABARD programme.
 
The minister could have quickly taken to Twitter to help calm frayed nerves, but he didn’t. Instead his next tweet said he will be addressing a press conference on Swachta Pakhwada, cleanliness fortnight.
 
What is worse, a day after the uproar over the killing of farmers when the entire country was outraged, Radha Mohan Singh deliberated upon a weed problem in a Kerala region. He tweeted: 
 
On the same day, he also met union health minister JP Nadda with whom he discussed agricultural institutions in Himachal Pradesh.
 
And after 48 hours since the Mandsaur incident, the minister proudly performed yoga with Ramdev in Motihari and distributed gas connections to women. Again not a word on the killing of farmers.
 
The essence of Digital India seems to have been lost on the minister who could have stepped in as the situation deteriorated.
 
The agricultural department too maintained a stoic, indifferent online silence. It spoke of retaining youth in farming on June 6 and on June 7, it stressed on organic farming. None of the tweets were about the problems being faced by the farmers. Digitally, the ministry is clearly not in touch with the ground realities.
 

Comments

 

Other News

Can AI change India’s breast cancer story?

Breast cancer has become a public-health challenge in India. The greatest opportunity is to find cancers earlier. Artificial intelligence (AI) is opening a new era in breast cancer detection. AI systems can analyse mammograms and other breast-imaging studies, identify subtle abnormalities and assist radi

Farm stability in the time of climate change

Indian agriculture is experiencing significant climate volatility, while the world economy seems to be in a highly volatile situation. Economic indices from various countries show that they need to recalibrate their strategies to withstand economic headwinds. In such a challenging situation, a country li

El Niño threatens India’s Rabi crops

India’s southwest monsoon ended with a 13% rainfall deficit in 2026, its weakest performance in a decade, raising concerns over agricultural production, water security and the upcoming rabi season. With El Niño expected to persist into early 2027, experts warn that declining soil moisture, dep

Regulating the data advantage: India’s new e-Commerce framework

For over a decade, India’s e-commerce story has rested on a simple premise: platforms connect buyers and sellers, while data fuels efficiency, personalisation, and scale. However, as the market matured, its structure has revealed a growing imbalance. E-commerce platforms, especially marketplace ent

Changing weather patterns, climate change responsible for Nepal floods

The interaction between active Western Disturbances, increased atmospheric moisture and the region’s complex topography aswell as global warming are important factors behind intense rainfall in the Himalayas, leading to flash floods in Nepal, according to meteorologists. Nepal

A right she cannot reach

Last summer, the two of us spent several weeks in rural Madhya Pradesh with a non-profit that works on gender justice through women’s self-help groups. We went in with a notebook full of laws. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act. The Dowry Prohibition Act. Free legal aid for every wo

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter