The Union government has brought massive changes in its publicity wing, the Press Information Bureau (PIB). In a major shake-up, many senior PIB officers in Delhi were posted out, either to smaller states or the Northeast.
One such change is the transfer of the director general of media in the Union home ministry, K.S. Dhatwalia, who was posted as DG (PIB) Northeast in Guwahati. However, he will work from the PIB in Imphal on loan basis on the strength of PIB in Guwahati.
In turn, Neelam Kapur, former chief information officer of the previous UPA government, was brought to the MHA for the time being to handle the publicity affairs of the ministry that deals with crucial internal security matters.
Kapur would be meeting Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba soon as she takes up her additional charge. The 1982 batch officer of the Indian Information Service (IIS) had handled several media units in the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry in the past.
Kapur is presently serving as principal DG, Directorate of Field Publicity. She would now hold additional charge, taking care of the publicity requirements of the home ministry and the sports ministry until further orders, said a government order issued on Monday.
While Dhatwalia's transfer left many Information Service officers surprised, sources said the effort was aimed at strengthening the regional PIB centres by moving senior officers to states.
Dhatwalia wasn’t alone in the list. N.D. Wakankar, ADG media in Delhi ,who was till recently holding charge in the defence ministry, was sent to Mumbai as ADG PIB.
Chaitanya Prasad, who was ADG PIB in New Delhi and officer on special duty in the I&B ministry, was sent as ADG DD News, and given charge of the new media wing of PIB. He will also continue to assist in setting up a media hub in the ministry.
Meanwhile, K. Syama Prasad, who was ADG PIB in Gujarat, was brought to New Delhi as ADG PIB.
According to the government order, Onkar Kedia, who was serving as ADG DAVP in Delhi, was sent as ADG PIB to Jaipur, while L.R. Vishwanath, who was ADG DD, was sent to Vijayawada. R.N. Mishra, ADG(news) DD News, was transferred to take charge as additional director general PIB in Raipur.
In all, the government effected transfers and postings of 24 officers of the Indian Information Service. Sources also said more changes were in the offing in the next few months.
The move signals a major thrust being given by the government in reaching out to people and spelling out its efforts toward better governance and carrying out an image-building exercise ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The senior hands who were sent to the states are expected to be better equipped for handling this task.
