This is a departure from our usual MIEF project posts on Tuesday, because we wanted to bring out the reasons why it was truly historic for a young nation to finally have a Prime Minister who is social media savvy and advocates transparency especially through online channels. Here is why we think that PM Modi’s online transparency is especially momentous for young people!
- Opportunities for youth to contribute: The PM has introduced a form where anyone can fill in their own details and areas of expertise, which can potentially help young people volunteer and contribute meaningfully
- Presence online: The PM can be “reached” online and regularly updates his status on social media channel, where the youth is. This has an inherent impact on generating higher visibility in these channels and allowing for transparency. It is also in some sense representative of the young people, and something that they can relate to easily.
- Setting the tone: At 11pm yesterday, after the swearing in ceremony, PM Modi tweeted about a meeting with his officials “shortly”. This is the India we aspire for, hardworking and efficient. What a great model to adopt!
- Collaborative approach: If one were to follow the tweets, and the first message of inviting all the SAARC leaders to his swearing in ceremony, PM Modi has clearly demonstrated a collaborative approach towards problem solving and leadership, something our young people could learn a lot from!
We are not a political organization, but a small NGO, however, in our small survey results one of the findings was that the way the government can solve for important issues like Climate change and environmental degradation, was to include youth in the policy making and implementation. These efforts, though still to be time tested, give us hope.
We congratulate the #MyPMModi team for creating a sense of optimism! We wish the new PM is able to fulfill the huge promise he has been voted in with!