Bihar to use WhatsApp to repair bad roads

Bihar, June 30: Tech savvy Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav has decided to use instant messaging platform Whatsapp to help construct and repair roads, officials said on Thursday.

Tejaswi, 26, has released a WhatsApp number (9470001346) for people to click a picture of a bad road and send it in order to get repair work done.

"In Bihar, people can now directly WhatsApp the conditions of roads under the Output and Performance Based Road Assets Maintenance Contract (OPRMC) to bring more quality and efficiency," Tejaswi, who is also road construction minister, tweeted.

According to road construction department officials, Tejaswi has been using Whatsapp as a new tool to ensure people to directly inform the concerned government agency to construct or repair broken roads.

"It is a new people-friendly experiment using Whatsapp for better roads in the state," the officials said.

Earlier, people used to submit their complaint to the department and it was forwarded to a concerned engineer which led to delay of the repair works.

This is not first time Tejaswi decided to use social media to help people.

Last December, he helped an engineering student from Sitamarhi district to get his pending scholarship through Facebook.

After engineering student informed Tejaswi on his Facebook account that he was unable to get the post-matric scholarship for the last three years despite much effort. Tejaswi immediately directed officials concerned to look into the complaint and ensure the youth received his scholarship money.

IANS