eGovWatch: I&B Min for more ‘Talkathon’ sessions in coming days

After hosting first-ever ‘Talkathon’ featuring a Union Minister on Monday, the Information and Broadcasting ministry is planning to host more such events in coming days.

Officials said ‘Talkathon’, which is a unique concept which the ministry first used during the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) last year, is a combination of social media platforms where questions are asked from an eminent person on ‘twitter’ or ‘facebook’ in real-time while answers are provided live on ‘Youtube’.

“After the extremely positive feedback received from the exercise during IFFI 2014, it was decided by the ministry that to connect government through Union Ministers with the people, ‘Talkathons’ would be held,” a senior official said.

As part of the first such exercise, Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal today answered questions from the people for nearly 30 minutes on ‘Talkathon’.

A young Indian Information Service (IIS) officer Santosh Ajmera played the role of the anchor, putting questions posed by the people to the minister.

Goyal is learnt to have answered to around 20 questions today. “While there were more questions, the event was planned for 30 minutes. The aim was to answer a maximum number of questions during that time,” the official added.

After the Narendra Modi-led government stormed to power at the Centre, the I&B ministry has increasingly focus on using social media to reach out to the people.

“There has been a suggestion that ‘Talkathons’ should be made a weekly event. Whatever be the frequency, the I&B is definitely planning to hold such events more,” an official said.

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