9 August 2013
NEW DELHI: In a bid to ramp up government presence on social media, the Union Cabinet on Thursday gave its approval for establishing a new media wing in the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B). The wing will be tasked with bespoke content generation, trend tracking and publicity for government's initiatives through multiple social media platforms.
This will bring government communication to the 21st century,'' I&B minister Manish Tewari said. The ministry has allocated Rs 22.50 crore from its plan fund for the initiative. The ministry has been running its Bharat Nirman and other government campaigns on youtube, facebook and twitter on a pilot basis.
Tewari said that the wing had been culled out of existing resources, including manpower and funds at the disposal of the ministry. Ministries that do not have a robust system of social media like PMO and MEA can use the platform provided by the I&B ministry to publicize their work. "There is no diktat. The wing will act as a hub for the government's publicity only on a voluntary basis,'' the minister said.
He added that the Press Information Bureau (PIB) officials will be the interface between the I&B ministry and other government departments. The new media wing anointed as the "Bureau of New and Concurrent Media'' would be headed by a senior officer of joint secretary rank with the administrative and operational support provided by a media unit under the ministry — the research reference & training division.
The wing will be manned by young information service officers with some work out-sourced. The expenditure for the new media wing was earlier approved by the CCEA under Rs 630 crore Development Communication and Information Dissemination plan scheme of the I&B ministry, a government statement said.
Published by: The Times Of India