Patna: The Narendra Modi government's Digital India vision might take a while to reach the chief minister of Bihar. Jeetan Ram Manjhi is finding his way around a computer and confesses he has only just begun.
Today, several of Mr Manjhi's minsters are attending a day long computer training workshop. It began with all of those present being taught by instructors how to operate a laptop computer.
Mr Manjhi inaugurated the workshop and announced that he doesn't know anything about a computer and needs the training at the earliest. But he is not attending the class and did not specify when he plans to get that training.
Nine ministers turned up. Others begged off saying they had already attended computer classes a few years ago when Nitish Kumar was chief minister.
Jeetan Kumar Manjhi, 72, is one of very few chief ministers in the country who do not tweet or have a Facebook account.
His predecessor Nitish Kumar had famously said last year that "tweeting" was "for birds." Some months later, he had, however, opened a Facebook account.
Another former chief minister and Bihar stalwart Lalu Prasad, had once boasted that he knew nothing about IT or information technology. But that was in the early 2000s. This year, Lalu joined Twitter declaring in his first tweet, "Only change is constant."
The BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, transformed the way polls are fought in the national elections this year, using social media as a very effective campaign tool. Mr Modi has over seven million followers on Twitter and 23 million on Facebook; he shares his thoughts and messages regularly through these.
His Digital India programme seeks to transform India into a connected economy.
Today, several of Mr Manjhi's minsters are attending a day long computer training workshop. It began with all of those present being taught by instructors how to operate a laptop computer.
Mr Manjhi inaugurated the workshop and announced that he doesn't know anything about a computer and needs the training at the earliest. But he is not attending the class and did not specify when he plans to get that training.
Jeetan Kumar Manjhi, 72, is one of very few chief ministers in the country who do not tweet or have a Facebook account.
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Another former chief minister and Bihar stalwart Lalu Prasad, had once boasted that he knew nothing about IT or information technology. But that was in the early 2000s. This year, Lalu joined Twitter declaring in his first tweet, "Only change is constant."
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His Digital India programme seeks to transform India into a connected economy.
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