Information Department to have Creative Wing for designing, disseminating advt campaigns

Govt Deptts, PSUs should stop issuing advertisement spots directly to electronic media bypassing DIPR: Zulfkar

SRINAGAR, JUNE 08: The Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) will be establishing a Creative Wing to ensure artistic designing of advertisement and promotional campaigns for various Government Departments and Public Sector Undertakings in the State.

This was announced at a meeting of the administrative secretaries of various departments convened here this afternoon under the chairmanship of Minister for Information, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs, Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali.

Commissioner Secretary, Power Development Department, Dheeraj Gupta, Commissioner Secretary, PWD, Sanjeev Verma, Commissioner Secretary Rural Development Department, Nirmal Sharma, Secretary FCS&CA Department, Shafiq Raina, Secretary Information, M H Malik and representatives of Health and Medical Education and Housing & Urban Development Departments were present at the meeting.

The meeting was convened to discuss the modalities for effectively highlighting the achievements including developmental and welfare initiatives of the Government in different sectors.

It was decided in the meeting that the DIPR would act as the nodal department for designing and dissemination of special advertisements highlighting the achievements of the government through the print and the electronic media. He said the Government Departments and PSUs should desist from issuing advertisement spots through the electronic media on their own and the same should be instead routed through DIPR as is the case with the print advertisements.

The Minister asked the concerned administrative secretaries to provide requisite content to DIPR so that the same could be used in the special advertisement campaign. He said if the need arises the Department could hire the services of a professional creative agency for designing the advertisement campaign.

He said the DIPR has been asked to also revive the publications wing so that the government activities are documented in a proper shape, as was being done in the past.

The Minister said the DIPR, which is paying around Rs 35 crore per year to the newspapers as advertisement charges, is being reinvigorated and its functioning is being further stepped up by grooming it on professional lines.