കുളം കോരൽ - കഥ ഇതുവരെ

നാട്ടുകാർ സംഘം ചേർന്ന് കൊല്ലം പിഷാരികാവു ചിറ വൃത്തിയാക്കിയ കഥ ഇപ്പോൾ ഒരു മാതിരി ആൾക്കാർക്കൊക്കെ അറിയാം. ഈ 'അവിടെ കുളം കോ...

Posted by Collector, Kozhikode on Wednesday, February 10, 2016

ഭിന്നശേഷിക്കാർക്ക് സൗജന്യ കബ്യുട്ടർ പരിശീലനം

സാമൂഹ്യനീതി വകുപ്പിനു കീഴിൽ മായനാട് പ്രവർത്തിക്കുന്ന ഭിന്നശേഷിക്കാർക്കുളള തൊഴിൽ പരിശീലന കേന്ദ്രത്തിൽ, ഡി.ടി.പി (6 മാസം),...

Posted by Collector, Kozhikode on Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Times when 'Collector Bhayya' sounds better than 'Collector bro'

Our dear 'Chhaya' is back in Bangladesh and doing well... The love and affection shown by the people of Kozhikode while...

Posted by Collector, Kozhikode on Wednesday, February 10, 2016

A small act of compassion can change someone's life

Our volunteers from JDT had their chapati making session in Govt Mental Health Centre, Kuthiravattom today. We are...

Posted by Collector, Kozhikode on Tuesday, February 9, 2016

ഒരു പുതിയ കൂട്ടായ്മ

ജില്ലയിലെ നൂറിലധികം സാമൂഹ്യ സാംസ്കാരിക സംഘടനകളും ഫേസ്ബുക്ക്‌ കൂട്ടായ്മകളും ഇന്നു കലക്ടറേറ്റ്‌ കോൺഫറെൻസ്‌ ഹാളിൽ ഒത്തുചേർന...

Posted by Collector, Kozhikode on Monday, February 8, 2016

നന്ദി.. വീണ്ടും വരിക

തെരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പ്‌ അടുത്ത്‌ വരുന്നു. ഇനിയങ്ങോട്ട്‌ പ്രചരണത്തിന്റെ തിരക്കാണു. കഴിഞ്ഞ തദ്ദേശ സ്വയംഭരണ തെരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പിനു ശേഷം കോഴ...

Posted by Collector, Kozhikode on Sunday, February 7, 2016

Service with smileys: The Times of India

KOZHIKODE: It is not every day that you appreciate an outgoing police officer's wit and humour. That's probably because it's not often that an officer signs off by tweeting: 'Alvida ... Until we tweet again' as former Mumbai police commissioner Ahmad Javed did. His last act before he handed over the reins of Mumbai police was to create a Twitter handle that turns routine public service messages into witty lines that get furiously retweeted.

Javed isn't alone in using humour, wit and a responsive online persona to draw in the public to clean lakes, report traffic violations or create a dialogue about drug use. A handful of government officials are moving away from drab social media accounts that looked like they were run by bots programmed only to wish followers on public holidays.

One of the earliest chirpy government accounts was ISRO's @MarsOrbiter, which recently wished 'earthlings' #HappyNewYear, while exclaiming, "North pole looks wicked cool here!" In the same vein, Kozhikode collector N Prasanth is 'bro' to his Facebook followers and chats with them about malaria prevention and civil society initiatives late into the night, while Mumbai customs deputy commissioner Kiran Kumar Karlapu is equally comfortable tweeting about gold biscuits recovered from inside water taps as he is about Andhra Pradesh politics.

"If we have to reach out to people, we have to go where they are," says Prasanth. It is the same reason that prompted former Bengaluru police commissioner MN Reddi in 2014 to set up Twitter handles for the force, probably the first for an Indian police department. The tech-savvy, young population of the city was getting restive about rising crime and apparent bureaucratic apathy. Rumours on WhatsApp and Facebook added to the stress levels and Reddi took to Twitter to reach out. "Urban policing is driven a lot by perception. You have to use media so that incorrect information can be corrected," says Reddi. The Bengaluru police's @CPBlr account notched up more than 3.5 lakh followers within a year. In the aftermath of the recent attack on a Tanzanian student by a mob, people used the Twitter handle to exchange information about the assailants.

Prasanth's "informal and casual style" has landed the Kozhikode district's FB page the highest number of followers among all district administration pages "While most other government pages use it for information dissemination, we are using it for consultation, public grievance redressal and mobilization as well," says Prasanth.

Javed was clear that the public service announcements on drug use and traffic violations had to be catchy enough to grab attention. He sought the services of a digital media agency and came up with witty lines like 'If you roll, we will weed you out. #HoshMeinAao' and 'If you overtake from the left, you can never be right. #FollowTrafficRules'.

Officials say social media is a tricky two-way street. For one, you need to monitor posts and respond to followers immediately. The collector says though he has a social media team he is always at hand through his smartphone. "I handle every message and post personally to keep the identity and individuality of the page. This is not a fan page of some film star that can be outsourced but a tool for administration," says Prasanth.

Sometimes listening to a rant is not enough. What really matters is follow-up action. "Listening is the first step in engaging with somebody," says Reddi, whose team issued Action Taken Reports on complaints. Prasanth famously fed Kozhikode biryani to volunteers who cleaned up a huge lake after reading his FB post seeking hands for the operation.

Though seniors are usually supporters, sometimes the attention could rile a politician or two, unhappy over the fact that social media is cutting red tape and middlemen. The old school of administration, which swears by secrecy, frowns upon community participation and crowdsourcing, mistaking it for publicity, says Prasanth. There is also another problem. "Many expect me to be an online demi god who can solve every problem," he says. The other day, a citizen demanded why the collector wasn't clearing an overflowing drain, which is clearly the civic agency's job. To that, he shrugs and writes "Not my job, but tell me bro, where is this drain?"

That's service with smiley.

Author: Sandhya Soman

Original Article 

Kozhikode IAS Officer Invited Common People To Clean A Lake, For A Biryani Treat: The Logical Indian

KOZHIKODE: N Prasanth IAS from Kozhikode has a inspiration following on social media for many of his innovative ways to motivate and pull up people for a social cause. M Prasanth invited people of Kozhikode to clean the 14 acre Pisharikavu pond in Koyilandy of water hyacinth and slush via a Facebook post and promised to offer delicious sumptuous Malabar Biryani in return as a reward. Moreover, the post assured the sanction of money to hire water pumps as well.

In response to his call, 750 people gathered on the Republic Day to clean the pond. And as promised they were treated with the Biryani cooked alongside the pond. According to the Collector, cleaning a 57 mile pond was a Herculean task but the gracious support from the people made it a huge success.

Since the time he was appointed as the District Collector last year in February Prashanth  has accumulated a huge fan following on Facebook turning a total eye candy for the people , the very medium he utilizes to discuss schemes, plans and crowd sourced campaigns.

N Prasanth admits that “being on social media makes administration more transparent, seamless, fast, publicly accountable, and ‘informal'”, he was quoted as saying to the Indian Express. “The people are out there in social media, so we need to be there. It’s as simple as that. Pasting notices on the notice boards of the village office is no longer the way to reach out to the public. Social media as a platform makes administration more transparent, seamless, fast, publicly accountable, and ‘informal’,” said Prasanth in September.

Among other popular campaigns by Prasanth include “Operation Sulaimani “catering to the matters like hunger and poverty aimed at feeding the poor in collaboration with several NGO’s and charity bodies.

The Logical Indian Community appreciates N Prasanth for his efforts to incentivize collective participation of people. People’s participation has always done wonders, it high time the district’s leverages Social Media to its advantage in mobilising people and completing projects.

Author: Gauri Bhansal

Original Article

സാമൂഹ്യ സാംസ്‌കാരിക സംഘടനകൾക്ക് സ്വാഗതം

വിവിധ സാമൂഹ്യ സാംസ്കാരിക മേഖലകളിൽ സന്നദ്ധ പ്രവർത്തനം നടത്തുന്ന ഒട്ടേറെ സംഘടനകളും കൂട്ടായ്മകളും കോഴിക്കോട് ജില്ലയിലുണ്...

Posted by Collector, Kozhikode on Friday, February 5, 2016

All active social and cultural organisations are welcome

There are a large number of social and cultural organizations involved in one voluntary work or other in Kozhikode...

Posted by Collector, Kozhikode on Friday, February 5, 2016

Mental Health Centre basks in positive changes

The Hindu 04/02/2016

Posted by Collector, Kozhikode on Friday, February 5, 2016

World Cancer Day

നമുക്ക്‌ കാൻസറിനെതിരെയുള്ള യുദ്ധം തുടരാം. നമ്മുടെ നാട്ടിൽ കാണുന്ന കാൻസറുകളിൽ നല്ലൊരു ശതമാനം തുടക്കത്തിൽ കണ്ടു പിടിച്ചാൽ ...

Posted by Collector, Kozhikode on Thursday, February 4, 2016

Again on mosquitoes

കോഴിക്കോട്ടെ കൊതുക് പണ്ടേ പ്രസിദ്ധമാണെന്നാണു പഴമക്കാർ പറയുന്നത്. ഇപ്പോഴാണെങ്കിൽ കൊതുക് മലമ്പനിക്ക് പുറമേ ഡങ്കി പനിയും കൊ...

Posted by Collector, Kozhikode on Wednesday, February 3, 2016

പങ്കാളിത്തമാണ് വിജയത്തേക്കാൾ പ്രധാനം

നമ്മുടെ കുട്ടികൾ കൂടുതൽ വേഗത്തിൽ, കൂടുതൽ ഉയരത്തിൽ, കൂടുതൽ കരുത്തോടെ!!!ചുരുങ്ങിയ സമയത്തിനുള്ളിൽ ഇത്രയും ഭംഗിയായി ദേശീയ സ...

Posted by Collector, Kozhikode on Tuesday, February 2, 2016

E- toilet facility back in city

Posted by Collector, Kozhikode on Tuesday, February 2, 2016

The future of Kozhikode, in safe hands..!!

Fulaij and his friends realize that life is fragile. They say that they know the value of time. This group students is...

Posted by Collector, Kozhikode on Monday, February 1, 2016

ജീവിതത്തിന്റെ ക്ഷണികതയും സമയത്തിന്റെ വിലയും തിരിച്ചറിഞ്ഞ കുട്ടികൾ

കിടപ്പിലായ രോഗികളെ വീട്ടിൽ സന്ദർശിച്ച് ആശ്വസിപ്പിക്കുന്നു, അവരിൽ ചിലരുടെ കുട്ടികളുടെ വിദ്യാഭ്യാസ ചെലവുകൾ വഹിക്കാനായി ഒഴി...

Posted by Collector, Kozhikode on Sunday, January 31, 2016