Press Information Bureau
Press Information Bureau(PIB) is a nodal agency of the Government of India under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Based in National Media Centre, New Delhi, Press Information Bureau disseminates information to point, electronic and web media on government plans, policies, programme initiatives and achievements. It is available in 14 Indian official languages, which are Dogri, Punjabi, Oriya, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Meitei(Manipuri), Telugu, Konkani and Urdu in addition to English and Hindi, out of the 22 official languages of the Indian Republic to reach out to about 8400 newspapers and media organizations in different parts of the country.
The head of PIB is also the Official Spokesman of the Government of India and holds the rank of Principal Director General (Special Secretary equivalent). The post is currently headed by Rajesh Malhotra.
∆✓ History
~ PIB was established in June, 1919 as a small cell under Home Ministry under the British Government.
~ The first head of the Publicity Cell was Dr. L. F. Rushbrook Williams, he was designated as Officer on Special Duty in 1938.
~ That time the main task of PIB was to prepare a report on India to be placed before the British Parliament. It was then located in Shimla.
~ Towards the end of 1920, the cell became the Central Bureau of Information and Dr. L. F. Rushbrook was appointed as Director of this Bureau.
~ Prof. Rushbrook described the working of the Bureau in his evidence before the Press Laws Committee of 1921. According to him Central Bureau of Information is a link between the government and the press.
~ The major function of the bureau is to examine the current Press, both English and vernacular with the objective of finding out topics in which the public is interested and on which it requires information and of finding out matters in connection with which the action of the Government is criticized.
~ On June 1, 1923, the Central Bureau of Information was put on a permanent footing as the Bureau of Public Information.
~ In 1941, J. Natrajan became the first Indian to be head the Bureau as Principal Information Officer.
~ The organization’s name was changed to the Press Information Bureau in 1946.
∆✓ Functions
** It is the nodal agency for public communication and media relations for the entire Union Government of India ( though some organizations have their own outfits to look after their specialized media and publicity functions, e.g. Ministry of External Affairs and the armed forces).
** The Bureau issues press releases, features, photographs, infographics and videos for giving information to electronic, print and web media on the following matters:-
(1) Government Planning
(2) Government Policies
(3) Programme Initiatives
(4) Achievements of the Government.
The Bureau has a Press Facilitation unit for press accreditation and facilitation during press conferences and events that are open for the media. At present, about 2500 editors, correspondents, camerapersons and technicians from print, radio, television and web media are accredited.
~ With the advent of sophisticated media related technology, expansion of Government activities and varied media requirements, the role of PIB has, since independence, been expanding and becoming more complex.
Source: Press Information Bureau Official Page, Wikipedia
Written By: Rajat Ranjan
