SRINAGAR: A virtual meeting of Inter Media Publicity Coordination Committee (IMPCC) of the various units of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) and other Central Government organisations was organised by Press Information Bureau (PIB) Srinagar today. This was the third such meeting to be conducted in online mode owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The meeting was chaired by Additional Director General (Region) PIB Northern Region Ms. Devpreet Singh, and the proceedings were conducted by Deputy Director Media & Communications, PIB Srinagar Ghulam Abbas. Representatives of various MIB units functioning in different parts of Jammu and Kashmir, besides spokespersons of Central Government departments also attended the meeting.
Welcoming the participants, Singh said that different media units under MIB have been efficiently disseminating information about Covid-19 for its prevention and management. She further said that the media units are now looking forward to streamlining information about the next stage of COVID-19 response which includes vaccination, its inoculation and execution properly across the whole country in proper synergy.
Addressing the participants, Ghulam Abbas highlighted the importance of coordination between various media units and added that inputs shared amongst all the units will help in disseminating the most beneficial information among majority of the population. He impressed upon all concerned to ensure real time dissemination of accurate information about various steps being taken by the government for the benefit of common masses.
Mridu Salatia from Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) Jammu and Kashmir said in the meeting that besides coverage of DDC elections, the department also carried out Covid-19 related awareness activities in the form of daily Covid-19 bulletin and other programmes in collaboration with All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD). She added that DIPR has also undertaken around 30 campaigns in the recent past on various themes including elimination of fake news, Vocal for Local and Jan Andolan among others through social media and other audio-visual programmes.
Salman Qazi, Deputy Director News, Doordarshan Kendra (DDK) Srinagar said that DDK has focussed on and highlighted success stories related to Covid-19 and also covered campaign related activities of the recently concluded District Development Council (DDC) elections. He said that the current affairs program Halat-e-Hazira has been restarted which was impacted by Covid-19 earlier this year. He further elaborated that DDK’s social media accounts are proving to be a credible and reliable voice of the Government.
Ramesh Raina, Deputy Director News, Regional News Unit AIR and DD Jammu, said in the meeting that apart from successful completion of publicity related to DDC elections, AIR aired programmes related to Jan Andolan to create awareness among people and now the media unit is looking forward to disseminate information regarding the future Covid-19 scenario. He said that there has been close coordination with other MIB units in J&K for proper publicity of material related to Central Government and the various schemes run by it for the benefit of the masses.
GD Tahir, Programme Head, Doordarshan Srinagar, informed the participants that the channel has carried extensive programmes to clear doubts among masses related to the recent decisions taken by the government for farming, agriculture and other allied sectors. He also said that Doordarshan is working to come up with content in collaboration with the education department for programmes related to student’s welfare.
Abhishek Kumar, Assistant Director, PIB Jammu while addressing the participants, said that apart from routine activities, PIB Jammu focused on Covid-19 webinar series with emphasis on Jan Andolan and theme based Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) activities.
Public Relations Officer, Central University of Kashmir (CUK) Arshad Meraj said that CUK has taken multiple initiatives including organising webinars for students so that their academic progress is not hampered because of the ongoing pandemic.
Deliberating upon the assignments carried out by National Statistical Office (NSO), Suraya Anwar, Senior Statistical Officer and Incharge, said that its Field Operation Division’s statistics are used for planning and policy making by the government owing to which there is a great need for wide coverage of such activities undertaken. She said that NSSS’s data is used at state, national as well as international level for research and other important undertakings.
Majid Pandit, Media and Communications Officer, PIB Srinagar briefed the participants about the initiatives undertaken by the Bureau with respect to Covid-19 awareness and other campaigns. He said that the department also carried out the Ministry of Finance’s infographic campaign and tweets in addition to the other awareness initiatives on its social media platforms for wider reach. He said that the usage of social media platforms has been a boon in the present times and there is a need for all media units to work in tandem for maximum benefit. Pandit also presented the vote of thanks in the end.

KR Desk