Cleaning staff to be tracked in Bhopal through GPS-enabled watches

It appears that the Bhopal Smart City Development Corporation Ltd (BSCDCL) is truly following the spirit of digital India. Or is it about keeping errant workers in check? Take your pick, but very soon sweepers and sanitary workers in the city would be equipped with smart watches. And wearing them will be compulsory. The GPS-enabled watches will track the location and movement of the cleaning staff, thus helping BSCDCL officers keep an eye on their attendance and output. Sources say these watches have a price tag of Rs 10,000 each.

What’s up?

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan has made sure he remains top of mind even after his party lost the assembly elections. To this end, he has used his Twitter handle with great aplomb. One of his recent tweets — “Ek lambi daud ya oonchi chhalang se pahle do kadam peeche hatna padta hai” (before a long run or a high jump, one has to take a few steps backwards.) — has made his opponents quite jittery. A few days back he told party workers, “Chinta mat karna, tiger abhi zinda hai.” (Don't worry, the tiger is alive.) Is something brewing? Remember the Congress was just short of majority and formed government in the state with the support of Samajwadi Party (1), Bahujan Samaj Party (2) as also of four independents.

Congress' ‘Atal’ love

The new Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has decided to take forward the programmes started by the erstwhile Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state in memory of former prime minister and party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The BJP government had started the tradition of celebrating Vajpayee's birthday on December 25 as Sushasan Divas (good governance day). Now, the Congress government in the state has announced it will celebrate an entire week of good governance or Sushasan Saptah. The celebrations will kick off on Vajpayee's birthday and will go on till December 30. On Monday, December 24, all government officers and other staff members will take an oath before a life-size picture of Vajpayee pledging their support for good governance.