Govt working communication strategy for 'better outreach'

New Delhi, Jan 9: The Central government is working on a detailed communication strategy to ensure that information is disseminated to all stakeholders in a "most" effective manner and all its ministries are "on the same page" so that areas of focused attention can be prioritised.

As part of the initiative, the Information and Broadcasting ministry has designated Joint Secretary-level officers as "nodal officers" to coordinate between various ministries and departments.

I&B secretary Sunil Arora has written to his counterparts in other ministries seeking information related to activities and programmes from "dissemination and outreach point of view" so that areas of focused attention can be prioritised.

Other ministries have also been asked to appoint nodal officers to ensure smoother flow of information, source said.

According to sources, the I&B secretary wrote the letters after a meeting of Committee of Secretaries (CoS) held in August last year emphasised the need to prioritise areas of focused attention for communication strategies.

The emphasis of the government is on 'Focussed Communication Strategies' and the I&B ministry is trying to ensure that information can be disseminated to all stakeholders in a most effective manner, a source said.

It is learnt that the Prime Minister's Office has also conveyed to different ministries to take proactive measures to adopt a communication strategy which is more engaging with the people and has better outreach.

In a letter written two months ago, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Nripendra Misra had said that the I&B ministry is expected to play a crucial role in highlighting the initiatives and programmes of the Government in the media.

Misra had also emphasised on greater cohesiveness between various ministries in terms of flow of information, sources said.

PTI