It’s 3 weeks since popular Karnataka bureaucrat deactivated his Twitter handle
Bucking the ‘trend’, Manivannan operated account at his own expense
BENGALURU:
While most of us would be only too happy to be seen, read and ‘liked’ on social media, senior Karnataka bureaucrat Captain P Manivannan (IAS) has taken a contrarian path by deciding to quit Twitter.
In fact, it has been 3 weeks since Manivannan deactivated his Twitter handle @captain_mani72, which was active for more than a decade and had a major following, especially among socially conscious citizens of Karnataka.
Manivannan’s people-friendly nature and approach to civic issues were well-reflected in his tweets, and garnered much praise from twitterati and other netizens.
TheBengaluruLive tried to get a reaction from the veteran bureaucrat, but he was not available for comment.
According to sources, a deactivated Twitter account can be restored within the span of a year, unless the account holder does not want to re-activate it. Manivannan had more than 50,000 active followers on his Twitter handle.
Honourable exception!
It is also worth noting that Manivannan handled his Twitter account on his own and at his own expense, unlike other bureaucrats and fellow-IAS officers who reportedly engage other individuals/agencies to manage their Twitter accounts at the cost of the public exchequer.
BBMP handle ‘costs’ Rs 7 lakh!
For instance, the Twitter handle of the BBMP Commissioner, @BBMPCOMM, pays around Rs 7 lakh to a private agency to put out tweets on behalf of the civic chief. Other BBMP officers follow the same practice. It is also said that several Twitter handles in the Karnataka health department and a few top handles in the police department also use a considerable amount of taxpayers’ money to put out tweets.
CM’s handle also ‘paid for’!
Not just bureaucrats, Twitter handles owned by the Chief Minister of Karnataka and other cabinet ministers also dip into the public exchequer to keep up their ‘connection’ with citizens.
