New Delhi: S B Navrang, a former BJP IT cell member, Ravi Ranjan, whose Twitter bio lists him as an RSS cadre, and Shishir Tripathi also a former BJP social media team member have been appointed as consultants by the ministry of home affairs.

The order of appointment for SB Navrang says that he will be a consultant for a year and his work profile would include analysis of social media posts related to the ministry of home affairs.

Navrang's Linkedin profile mentions that he has been a core member of BJP's Mission 272 and also the "spearhead" of BJP’s social media since 2010.

"Keeping in mind the workload in the media department of MHA, a decision was taken to hire social media consultants," ADG Media K Dhatwalia told CNN news18.

Another officer associated with MHA media wing said, "We have been trying to redress grievances addressed to the ministry on social media. The work of the consultants would be to ensure the grievance reaches the right officer."

The appointments have been made effective from February 1, 2017, but the questions are being raised as to why BJP members are being roped in for government positions when PIB trained its officers for social media monitoring in the last two years.