Big Brother's Online Watch

In the run-up to Union budget 2018, the information and broadcasting ministry, then headed by Smriti Irani, monitored in real time online conversations centred on the word ‘budget’.

- Kaushik Deka

A team scrutinised social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook and a number of blogs. Based on their analysis, finance minister Arun Jaitley acted to allay apprehensions about certain budgetary provisions. For instance, the analysis showed that Jaitley’s decision to make no changes in personal income tax slabs had led to a lot of resentment. On cue, the government decided to play up the decision to re-introduce standard deduction—set at Rs 40,000 in the budget—as a boost to the take-home pay of employees, even though its impact is marginal at best.