Chandigarh, August11: The Department of Information and Public Relations should make maximum useof social media, the media of the new age, to spread the awareness about publicwelfare schemes run by the State Government, directed Anindita Mitra IASDirector Information and Public Relations Department, Punjab during a meetingwith the officers of the department at Punjab Bhawan, here today.
Ms. Mitra said thatthe Information and Public Relations Department acts as a bridge between thegovernment and the people by highlighting the public welfare schemes, policies,important decisions and initatives taken by the government in public interest.Mostly, the information sharing is through the newspapers, TV and radio. But now, in the wake revolutionary change ininformation/communication technology, the department of Public Relations shouldaggressively tap the social media platforms, said she," Today, more peopleare online than ever. Major chunk of population is actively using social mediaplatforms. So, to ensure quick, direct reach into maximum householdsaggressively tap social media platforms for information dissemination," saidMitra.
She also directed theofficers of the department to give regular feedback on the problems faced bypublic so that it may be suitably escalated to the concerned departments forearliest redressal.
She informed that 100LFDs highlighting various pro-public policies and achievements of StateGovernment would be installed at prominent places, by the end of August.
In the meanwhile,Additional Secretary Information and Public Relations, Dr Senu Duggal, IAS,reiterated that it is inevitable for PR Department to tap social media channelsto communicate with the public in a valuable and meaningful way. She alsoappreciated the efforts of officials of Public Relations during COVID19 crisisin disseminating the instructions and advisories issued by the government fromtime to time to deal with the epidemic.
Prominent amongothers who attended the meeting included Additional Director Opinder SinghLamba, Joint Director Ajit Kanwal Singh Hamdard, Joint Director Randeep SinghAhluwalia, Joint Director Harjit Singh Grewal, Deuty Director P.S. Kalra, Deputy Director Ishwinder SinghGrewal, DCFA Gagandeep Bassi and all the District Public Relations Officers andPublic Relations Officers posted at the Head Office.