Jammu, March 19: Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh while launching the J&K chapter of the Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) here on Sunday said it will write a new chapter for Jammu & Kashmir in the public relations and is going to create new horizons, new themes in public relations for this part of the country.
Dr Singh, who is the MoS (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, said the greater responsibility of PRSI is to fill the gaps in government communication in such a manner that the people are informed by the media according to the development communication models.
He said the nuances of communication have changed and undergone a paradigm shift with the technological interventions which is very challenging for the present-day conventional media. The media has to adjust itself to the technology now with the changes in the means of communication, he said.
Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “the best communicator in the world”, Dr Jitendra said, “PM Modi has initiated new areas, laid the foundation of unexplored areas which were never in news, the best example being the ‘Swachhta’.”
“The media must show the brighter side of the government like the DoNER model of development in the North East which has changed the development paradigms of the North East, the ‘StartUp Stand-up’ revolution in India, historical decision of abolishing interviews for non-gazetted posts, the Deep Sea Mission, etc. under Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.
“The socio-economic reforms made by this government like the family pension to the divorced daughter, family pension to the families of missing government employees, especially in J&K and North East, the digital life certificate, etc. must be brought to the public by the media so that information is disseminated to the deserving,” he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said the reporters should not become activists with vested interests as biases can creep in making news not newsworthy. “Communication is emerging now as an institution and it becomes the responsibility of PRSI to place the institution above the individual for the welfare of the people,” he said.
Others who attended the launch of J&K chapter of Public Relations Society of India included Dr Ajit Pathak, National President PRSI, Prof Rajnikant, Dr. Anil Soumit, Regional Director, IIMC Jammu, Dr Arun Joshi, Senior Journalist, Dinesh Manhotra, General Secretary, Press Club Jammu, Sanjeet Khajuria, Dr Monisa Qadiri and Dr Archana Kumari.
