Planning Commission of India uses Facebook to reach Citizens

India is a democratic country. But this time round, democracy in India has gotten itself a face lift. The Planning Commission of India recently introduced a Facebook Fan Page to discuss expenditure planning for the next 5 Years (2012 to 2017).

Drawing inspiration from the fair amount of success of the Census 2011 Facebook Page, the Planning Commission is devising a strategy to gather responses from the audience on Facebook.

As a standard practice, the Planning Commission of India plans expenditure for a period of 5 years and the same is drafted via an Approach Paper outlining the major targets, the key challenges in meeting them, and the broad approach that must be followed to achieve the stated objectives.

To develop an inclusive and participative approach to the process, the Planning Commission has decided that the Approach Paper will be evolved through a web based consultative process. A Facebook Page called the Twelfth Plan and an online forum are the touchpoints in which all interested citizens  can participate via discussions.

Activity on the Fan Page

Fans are pretty receptive to the idea of such an initiative and the growth to 1000+ Likes in 3 days speaks for itself.  Along with ideas and suggestions there are critical posts from the audience as well. It looks like a balanced ecosystem where everyone is contributing towards the betterment of the whole system.

Abhishek Dabral says: “Develop tier 2 & 3 cities by bringing them on air and network connectivity map. People should have the right to employment near their native places.”

Isha Shukla says: “I believe education should be our top most priority.. Tell every citizen from city to village about right to education…growth of country depends on education too…”

Ranjit Singh pointed out a list of things that should be looked in:

1. Sustainable development

2. Global warming

3. Poverty eradication

4. Price rise

5. Environmental degradation…