In order to provide a big push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus on interactive governance through effective communication, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will soon hold a workshop for all key ministries to streamline the government’s communication agenda.
The one-day workshop, to be held on February 2, will aim at “evolving a 360 degree communication approach for the entire government,” a ministry official told The Hindu on Wednesday. It will involve “all key ministries such as Defence, Home, Finance and External Affairs.”
The workshop will also see the participation of the heads of official media, including Doordarshan and All India Radio. “The centrality of communication and of public outreach has never been driven home more strongly than by the present government, with the PM leading by example,” said the official.
“Every platform is being used to make governance more interactive. Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, You Tube, Whatsapp…crowd-sourcing…this time the Republic Day advertisement will be crowd-sourced,” he said.
For the first time, ministries have nominated joint secretaries to serve as nodal officers for this initiative.
“As of today, all key ministries have confirmed their participation…including petroleum, corporate affairs, power (besides those mentioned above)...44 joint secretaries and 10 private secretaries (of ministers) will be participating,” he said.
The workshop will have interactive modules, theme-based sessions and explanation of the latest communication devices and technologies.
In another development, the ministry will soon be holding mobile technology-powered “Talkathons”, which would essentially allow social media users to interact with government across multiple platforms.
“A government interaction...a chat…or a briefing for instance…would be simulcast across platforms like Twitter, FB, Whatsapp etc,” said a ministry official.
