Post date: Aug 22, 2013 11:0:53 AM
India's ruling Congress party launches a national social media seminar to connect with youth across the country and to ensure better communication with various state units.
NEW DELHI, INDIA (AUGUST 22, 2013) (ANI) -India's ruling Congress party launched a national social media seminar to convey its ideology to the youth across the country and to ensure better communication with various state units.
The seminar was initiated in India's national capital on Thursday (August 22).
Officials were also optimistic that social media networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google,Yahoo, Orkut and others would play a crucial role in the forthcoming 2014 national polls.A representative of India's ruling congress party Deepender Singh Hooda said that the party had take up the initiative to get in touch with the youth of the country.
"In today's day and age social media is an important medium to convey to communicate, specially with the younger generation. The congress party realises this and that's why we have decide to conduct this workshop today. It is imperative for any political party to communicate with the youngsters to convey its ideology and from that point of view from that perspective we have conducted this national workshop today," said Hooda.
The Congress party-led federal government has been plagued by a series of corruption scandals that the opposition parties plan to exploit ahead of general elections due in 2014.
Expanding high-speed data networks across the world and increased availability of internet-enabled smart phones have helped to connect billions of people to the Internet, fuelling growth in social media and video-sharing websites.
The Congress led government seeks aims to reach out to the educated classes and the youth to seek support ahead of the ensuing elections in 2014.
The workshop will have 300 participants attending including five representatives from each state and Congress leaders are expecting the social media initiative to increase public support.
A member of India's ruling Congress party, Priya Dutt Roncon said that communication centres would be opened in every state under the initiative.
"We have participants coming from all our PCCs, all the states for this workshop. Under this initiative taken by the communication department will open communication centres in every state, in which their would be three departments, social media, research and spokespersons. We want to bring all of that under one umbrella and there will be an inflow and outflow of information from Delhito all the states," said Roncon.
Only about a tenth of India's more than 1.2 billion people have access to the Internet, although the scenario is changing fast with growth in low-cost tablet computers and cheaper smart phones.
India's traditional caste and religion-based politics, while still a key factor in winning elections, is becoming less relevant to a growing urban middle class, who are also less in awe of a famous surname.