The Ministry of Home Affairs has appointed a full-time consultant to handle its social media accounts, reported The Times of India. The appointee will work under the supervision of the ministry’s additional director general for media. The appointments have been made effective from February 1, 2017.
Navrang SB, who has been a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Information Technology cell, has been hired as a social media consultant for the ministry for a year. BJP workers Ravi Ranjan and Shishir Tripathi have also been appointed to handle MHA’s social media accounts. Navrang, Ranjan and Tripathi will be paid a monthly salary of Rs 70,000.
Navrang’s Linkedin profile says he was a core member of BJP’s Mission 272+, which the party had launched ahead of the 2014 general elections. It says he had “spearheaded” social media initiatives for BJP in 2010, which later played an important role in winning the general elections. The profile also says he had started BJP’s internet channel called “Yuva TV”, adding that he had joined BJP as a volunteer in 2003.
However, the ministry has said Navrang was not a part of BJP IT cell, but had been a part of a private firm which was engaged by the party ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, reported The Hindu.
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