Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has held at least 81 virtual meetings ever since he took oath to the office amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a state official said on Friday.
Not just the Chief Minister, but even the state’s Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains has held online meetings with officials for 53 hours through 38 video-conferencing sessions, the official said.
Other state government departments have also been functioning through the video-conferences and virtual meetings in times of lockdown and social distancing, he said.
Chouhan, who took reigns of the state a night before the nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 24, has held meetings for a total of 149 hours through 81 video- conferences, the official said.
According to data released by the state government, Chouhan used social media extensively to communicate with the general public.
“The Chief Minister has posted 58 videos on his Twitter account and 108 videos on Facebook since March 23 and held direct discussion with the people of Madhya Pradesh through 22 live events,” the official said.
The senior BJP leader’s Facebook account registered 8 crore views since the lockdown, while his Twitter handle received 23 lakh views, he said.
More than 125 videos of Chouhan related to important decisions taken by the state government and COVID-19 guidelines had been posted on the Facebook account of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), the official said.
Meanwhile, senior technical director of National Informatics Centre (NIC) Mayank Nagar said the Chief Minister was making full use of information and communication technology.
Chouhan has communicated with people from every section of the state through video conferencing and stayed in touch with his officials through 81 video-conferencing sessions, he said.