A day after, over 12,500 following PM on Twitter

Over 12,500 and counting. This was the number of followers of twitter account of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Office, a day after it was launched.

The account 'Twitter@PMOIndia', which is believed to be a brain child of Singh's newly-appointed Communications Advisor Pankaj Pachauri, had 12,505 followers by around 7 pm today.

So far, four tweets have been posted on it, the latest being the meeting between the Prime Minister and Myanmar's visiting Foreign Affairs Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin.

The first two tweets were on the national awards for bravery function held at Singh's official residence. It also had links to the Prime Minister's speech made on the occasion and photographs of the event.

Pachauri, who is responsible for the PMO's new media foray, has thanked the followers for their support.

"The Prime Minister's Office is now on Twitter@PMOIndia. Thank you for your support," Pachauri said on his own account.

According to PMO sources, the Twitter account was set up to post regular updates on the Prime Minister's programmes in near real time.

"The Prime Minister's work should be in the public domain so that people know that the government is functioning for their benefit," the PMO sources said.

"In future, there would be more information available immediately to the media."