'I&B Ministry to look at changed information process scenario'

New Delhi, Nov 10: Returning to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry after a long gap, Arun Jaitley on Monday said the media domain has expanded immensely and the ministry has to look at the changed information process scenario.

Jaitley, who was I&B Minister under A B Vajpayee in 1999, today took charge of the ministry from Prakash Javadekar. Referring to his previous stint, Jaitley said the domain of the media has now expanded immensely.

"I have been in this ministry before, there was more print media than electronic media. Today, there has been a lot of growth of radio and digital mediums.

"There was a time, when the major work of this ministry was Doordarshan and All India Radio. It is still a major area, but this changed information process scenario, this ministry has to look at that," he said.

Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who joined as Minister of State in the ministry, said there was perceived to be a communication gap between the government and the media, and only "one way communication" was taking place.

"I think one of the most important thing for this government after it came was to take immediate and important steps to put the economy and national prestige and security on track. And perhaps you get the impression that the communication was a little stifled. However, that is not the intention at all.

"With Arunji here and with myself as MoS, we'll make all efforts to be available to you and all sorts of two way communication, as you refer, will be there," he said.

PTI