Social media important tools for governance: President

President Pranab Mukherjee Monday said the government will work for digitisation of its records, establish wi-fi zones in critical public areas and use social media as a tool for participative governance.

"My government will work for the digitisation of government records. Digitization of government records will be done for improving accessibility. E-governance brings empowerment, equity and efficiency," said Mukherjee while addressing the joint session of parliament.

Terming the backbone of the Narendra Modi government's new ways of working as "Digital India", he said social media will be used as an important tool by the government.

"The backbone of my government's new ways of working will be a Digital India. It will be used to drive re-engineering of government processes to improve service delivery and programme implementation," the president said.

"Emerging technologies like Social Media will be used as a tool for participative governance, directly engaging the people in policy making and administration," Mukherjee said as he outlined the Narendra Modi government's agenda.

The use of social media by the new government, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been evident since his election campaigning days. It was also one of the crucial factors which helped the party win a whooping majority as it was able to connect with the people, especially the young, effectively.

Seeing the importance of the social media, Modi has also asked his council of ministers to use Twitter and Facebook to disseminate information and to connect with people.

Mukherjee said information technology (IT) will be used to drive re-engineering of government processes to improve service delivery and programme implementation.

"We will strive to provide Wi-Fi zones in critical public areas in the next five years. My government will roll out broadband highway to reach every village and make all schools e-enabled in a phased manner," he said.

Further, the national e-governance plan will also be expanded to cover every government office from the Centre to the Panchayat.