Amid a flood of holiday demands, Collectors weather an online storm
As the State continues to face the threat of flooding amid intense monsoon rains, the social media accounts of District Collectors are being inundated with
As the State continues to face the threat of flooding amid intense monsoon rains, the social media accounts of District Collectors are being inundated with demands to declare holidays for educational institutions. The public comments, a mix of genuine requests, sarcasm and criticism, appear to exert considerable pressure on the decision-making officers, prompting some of them to call out this online behaviour. District Collectors across the State have faced intense criticism on social media in the past few days, either for not declaring holidays in view of heavy rain or for allegedly delaying the announcements. “Better late than never,” one user commented after Ernakulam District Collector G. Priyanka announced on Sunday night (August 2) a holiday for educational institutions in the Kothamangalam and Muvattupuzha taluks for Monday (August 3).
However, many users in the comments section criticised the decision and demanded a holiday across the district. “Seriously, madam? Do you know the situation in Aluva?” another user asked. By 11.30 p.m., the Collector had declared a holiday for the entire district, drawing another round of criticism over the delay. Similar comments, some harsh in tone, were also seen on the social media accounts of other District Collectors. Amid the debate, Kozhikode District Collector Madhavikutty M.S. shared a detailed note on social media explaining the challenges involved in deciding whether schools should be closed. She pointed out that although a school holiday is almost certain when the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issues a red alert, there are no fixed rules for orange or yellow alerts.
Such decisions, she explained, are based not only on weather forecasts but also on local assessments of waterlogging, landslide threats, river water levels and road conditions, as well as reports from tahsildars, village officers, Revenue Divisional Officers and local bodies. Warning against decisions driven by public pressure, Ms. Madhavikutty said opinions expressed on social media were often formed without access to the detailed field reports and Automatic Weather Station (AWS) data available to the administration. “Such public pressure should not influence the decision-making process,” she wrote, clarifying that she was expressing her personal views. The Collector also highlighted the consequences of unnecessary holidays, noting that students lose valuable academic time while many parents, particularly daily-wage earners, suffer a loss of income.
The BriefWire