NEW DELHI:The government is planning to post mobile numbers and email IDs of all its officers on a central website in line with its ‘minimum government, maximum governance’ agenda. The move, spearheaded by the Cabinet Secretariat , is to ensure that government communication is centralised and that public is able to reach out to officials through a single platform. “Transparency and better governance is the key idea behind the initiative,” said a senior government official , adding that most ministries follow their own rules when it comes to putting out contact details of their officials.Most ministries and public institutions publish only official phone numbers and email IDs of their senior officers on their websites. “We have been told the move has the backing of the Prime Minister ’s Office. A central website will have all the information. In addition, links will be provided for respective ministries,” said the official. The information and broadcasting ministry is already coordinating with all ministries and government institutions for this.“We have had a few meetings. We will work with the National Informatics Centre on streamlining this mechanism,” said a senior I&B ministry official . While some ministries have already furnished the details, agencies that have a highlevel of public interaction have conveyed their apprehensions to the I&B ministry. “Putting out mobile numbers will create unnecessary issues for officials. We will be getting trivial complaints on issues which we may not be directly handling,” said a government official aware of the deliberations. The strongest protests have come from the ministries of civil aviation and health.“Mobile numbers are private numbers. Already, most ministries have a central public information officer (CPIO), who handles such issues,” said another government official. The government is working through its new media wing to create a communication hub as a onestop place for social media outreach based on hub and spoke model. Last week, nearly 150 officials from 59 ministries learnt using social media for spreading government’s messages.