How Ministry Of Railways Is Using Social Media For #RailBudget2015

Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting use social media to spread the word and useful information about the Rail Budget 2015

Prasant NaiduInsights
Rail_Budget_2015_Keypoints

Rail Budget 2015 is out! While the government is claiming it as a dream railway budget that strengthens the neglected railways in the country, the opposition isn’t happy as there are no new trains and reduction in passenger fares. The market has tanked 300 points after the 70-minute consumer-focused speech by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu that carried the distinct imprint of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of pet projects - Swachch Bharat, Digital India and Make in India.

Prime Minister Modi has tweeted about the #RailBudget2015 stating it a forward-looking, futuristic & passenger centric budget. While some analysts have hailed it as “rockstar” Rail Budget, others have wondered at the lack of specifics in it on how Prabhu plans to raise resources for the ambitious expansion plan.

Leaving aside the debate on how good was the budget for experts to fight on prime time TV debates, Ministry of Railways has once again used social media effectively to spread the word and educate the online junta.

Last year a day prior to the Rail Budget, the Railway Ministry opened its presence on social media with accounts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Today the Rail ministry, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting have been updating their social media accounts with relevant points from the budget.

From creating relevant buzz about the live coverage of the Rail Budget 2015, Facebook and Twitter have been at work covering live updates from Prabhu’s speech at the Parliament today. The social media updates from the Railway Minister’s social media accounts (to be read as Twitter) had live updates, summarized visual key points making it easy to consume.

To give company and extend reach, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB India) is also spreading the key points of the budget so that the positive sentiments reach out to maximum audience. MIB India is curating all the Rail Budget 2015 information on its website, along with other social media updates.

The ministry also made sure that the updates shared don’t just focus on English, contents from the budget were also shared in Hindi. Along with Facebook and Twitter, the ministry has been sharing the Prabhu’s speech that has been uploaded on YouTube.

Besides, MIB India has opened up for feedback from the common man on the Rail Budget 2015. If you have any question regarding the budget then you can tweet your question with the hashtag #AskMR and if your question impresses Suresh Prabhu then you can get an answer from him. Around 5:15 PM today the ministry plans to answer around 20-25 questions on the #RailBudget2015.

On Twitter, hashtags #RailBudget2015 and #PrabhuKiRail have been dominating the Twitter India trends. Listed below are some of the tweets from the hashtags.

Three months ago, Prabhu was inducted as India’s Railway Minister as proof of the Modi government’s reformist agenda. Today while delivering his speech he emphasised that the “vicious cycle of underinvestment” must end in the bleeding Railways. He has also listed cleanliness, safety, modernization of infrastructure and making the railways financially self-sustainable as his four big goals.

“We have to make Indian Railways a benchmark organisation in safety, security and infrastructure,” he said, inviting private participation.

However, questions are being raised  on how  the government plans to raise resources for the ambitious projects. As of now the future holds the answer to whether the Rail Minister will be able to pull up the bleeding Indian Railways.