“at least we have direct interaction with our real masters here”
“we don’t have any hard feelings for these outbursts. Quite natural, people were disappointed”
“We don’t get hurt when people abuse us. All of us are human beings. People expect more from us.”
“we are trying to change a scenario no government ever tried to change so far”
Guess who uttered those words? Tried? Another guess? Go ahead…!
No? They are from Uttar Pradesh Police! On Twitter!!
Yes.
Of all the Government departments in the country, it took UP Police, on Twitter, to call the public ‘real masters’.
This, from a state where cops are so badly treated that a minister publicly proclaims, ‘No cop can even sit without my permission‘!
The effort reminds me of many filmy cops who flaunt their mobile numbers and ask people to call them up directly when in need. And they land up to bash up goons no matter where they are and what time of the day it is.
All this doesn’t seem scalable, but the person behind this handle – ADG Law and Order of Uttar Pradesh, Arun Kumar – seems to be trying just that!
The handle is perhaps being handled by himself (at times) and others (other times – like, “his lieutenant a Deputy Director“), since a tweet rings true of the filmy nature of the effort (very occasionally) – “me too is a fan of this kind hearted giant called ADG Law and Order of Uttar Pradesh, Arun Kumar, a hero himself.” – That obviously cannot be from the man himself.
But seriously, this is a laudable effort! There are a lot of examples of people complaining about bribery in passport renewal, the issue with cops manhandling a girl and guy drinking in public and other issues… and the handle seems to be doing the impossible. That is, be helpful and graceful about it all, and focus on solving problems and updating people.
The tone the handle has adopted is quite extraordinary. This, when even corporates tell their social media teams to not apologize explicitly (in the face of legal teams swooping in on them and blaming them later). The most interesting facet of this engagement seems to be the human and empathetic tone that is consistently on display – from a Police department (and from Uttar Pradesh, of all states!), this is indeed a miracle!
In the last few days, the amount of engagement the handle finds itself is has multiplied drastically.
The handle says, at 2 instances,
try to understand I look after nine departmental heads and responding to each Tweet day and night without resting.
May I sleep friends? Have to follow up lots of job tomorrow as well. Same tight routines. Blessings and best wishes to all.
This is a fantastic PR effort. I’m sure they cannot handle or address every query that comes their way. Their follower base seems to be increasing too, every day.
But, beyond numbers, what is perhaps important is that they have started on a great note. The tone is very un-Police-like, and that’s half the battle won. Even if they maintain the same run-rate in terms of escalating and updating people of problems posed to them, they’d be doing a great service to the image of the department, as a whole, and most importantly, to the state of Uttar Pradesh!
Hats off to this effort! This is truly Singham coming alive!