NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi Wednesday asked ministers to spend a day at universities interacting with students and also visit govt schools in their constituencies to assess the facilities being provided to children, including mid-day meals. The twin directives are aimed at strengthening engagement with Gen Z and Gen Alpha (aged 5-15).During the Cabinet meeting, the overall social media performance, ranking of all ministers, was also shared. This was carried out based on activity, engagement and traction across platforms, including Instagram, X, Facebook and LinkedIn from May 1 to Aug 15. PM topped the list. Among ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Piyush Goyal, Ashwini Vaishnaw and CR Paatil were among the top performers.TOI has learnt that PM asked ministers to improve their social media presence and have engaging communication through these platforms rather than just posting or reposting govt decisions.People aware of the discussion said the performance of BJP leaders and other political leaders were also shared with ministers for reference and to assess how they can work on to improve their presence and engagement on these platforms. UP CM Yogi Adityanath was among the top performers, alongside Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, who is leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and Tamil Nadu CM C Joseph Vijay.For ranking and social media performance report, the assessment considered average daily posts, total engagement, average engagement per post, likes, average likes and follower count across all the platforms.
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While the initiative of “One Day, One University” programme comes in the backdrop of student protests, the push to reach out to Gen Alpha and visiting schools gains significance in the light of children raising demand for basic facilities, teachers and good quality food. CJP, which led the protests at Jantar Mantar, has also launched a programme to assess the gaps in govt schools.It’s learnt that ministers have also been asked to send their local representatives regularly to see the functioning and facilities at govt schools.PM also told ministers to assess how they can also provide AI skill training to youth, which was part of the Independence Day announcements. Modi has asked ministers to focus on the areas that he has outlined under “Sapta Dhara”.