Date with Delhi - Day 1

A Collage of snapshots of Day 1 proceedings of the 9th Global Communication Conclave - March 13, 2015

From the President’s desk-2: Towards Inclusive Communication...

I may not be young, but I too have a dream!

The dream of contributing to PRCI emerging as a truly ace and premier communication platform.

Ever since I have been appointed as the President of the National Executive, I have been flooded with greetings and goodwill messages which are full of enthusiasm to do something new. It’s nice to so much of energy and eagerness to take PRCI to new heights. While it is natural for us to expect the youth among the PRCIans to show lot of promise, it is equally heartening to note that even the veterans are full of ideas. What is even more important is the fact that they all love new ideas. And one common thread that holds us all together is the determination to keep the PRCI flag flying.

Over the past decade since its formation, PRCI has come a long way, but we have miles to go. The field of communication is rapidly changing with technology serving as the enabler. We have begun to use the technology in a unique way.

Perhaps for the first time, we at PRCI have launched our e-Mag truly online at no cost at all. You must have seen http://prrapport.blogspot.in/ which has caught the imagination of not only PRCIans, but the communication world around.

It's a big wow! As I key-in  this message, PRapport has crossed the record 500-page views mark in a short span. The audience wise breakup is: India 353. US 141. UK 4 and one each in Spain,  Kuwait, Maldives and Turkey. Thank you friends, let’s look forward to 1000 soon and as Mr S K Kaul says 100,000 mark!

PRapport is one of the many ways to stay in touch on a continuous basis. Do keep visiting and commenting and contributing. Please send your reports, pictures, videos to me. The subjects could be PRCI related activities, information that can enhance knowledge and policy issues that may have an impact on our profession.

As I have been talking and moving around, one question that I have been facing is: So, Mr President, what do you want us to do?

It is not the question of what I want the teams to do. It’s about all of doing it together as a team, and all chapters put together.

I have set this agenda for myself. Do correct me if I go wrong anywhere.

Strengthen PRCI Chapters: We need to plan and launch chapter wise activities which will culminate into at least quarterly zonal and half yearly national activities. But before that we need to activate our existing members and hen launch new, but a select, membership drive. Unless we have a broader representation, we cannot grow from the present position. I am sure all of you must be tired of seeing the same faces at conclave after conclave.

We did couple of unique activities for strengthening the participation at our recent conclaves. In Mumbai, we had an inter-collegiate contest and winners with their supporters participated in the 8^th Conclave. In Delhi, we had a large number of corpcom friends from PSUs joining us at the 9^th Conclave.

YCC: While we look at approaching senior professionals, we also should activate the YCC chapters. The mass communication and journalism students who join the YCCs will be our future brand members and even ambassadors.

Guest Faculty Pool: At Mumbai, we successfully experimented with initiatives like The Guest Faculty Pool and Knowledge Forums. The guest faculty pool is like a speakers’ forum from where we keep nominating professionals for lectures/presentations/seminars at mass communication colleges and the professionals include those from PR, Advertising and Media.

Knowledge Forums: For Knowledge Forums, we tied up with The Press Club where we conduct programmes on issues of general interest. For instance, we had a couple of media seminars with the BARC scientists on Radiation for crops and Urban Garbage Management. This helps us in increasing the awareness about PRCI in the minds of media fraternity. I am sure we can do at last one activity a month with the Press Clubs. Its cost effective and its useful.

Professional Training: At the 9^th Conclave, a suggestion cropped up on the need to train upcoming PR professionals in public and private sectors. Taking the NTPC example, we offered to work with the corporates on making their professionals industry ready. For this, we could take the help of senor journalists who are ever ready to share their knowledge and tell us on media expectations from PR in this ever changing world. For instance, cocktail dinners which were a vogue ten years ago, do not get any media response!

Fastest 500: With 25 chapters, if we look at a monthly activity each with Press Clubs and one YCC programme, we can look forward to 50x10+ 500 activities to report at the 10^th Conclave. It is an achievable target for all us of put together. I am sure the Zonal chairmen will all agree with me! Even if we achieve 200-activity target, we would have made a solid beginning.

The activities could be very simple – from addressing local issues to professional matters. Let me tell you how it works in Mumbai. The Press Club, being the partner,  gives us their 40-seater hall free. The hi-tea costs less than Rs 5,000. But the goodwill that we gain is priceless.

Website: The work on – www.publicrelationscouncilofindia.com – in progress and we should see it up and running soon. I am getting quite a bit of content from our headquarters in Bengaluru. I request all chapters to keep sending their activity information.

We have to make a beginning, let’s do it now.

Please send in ideas and suggested plans of action as we move on. More importantly, please guide me to do well.

Yours sincerely,

Date with Delhi - Day 2

Video collage of Day 2 proceedings of the 9th Global Communication Conclave held at New Delhi on March 13 & 14, 2015.

In case of difficulty in downloading, copy-paste this URL on your browser; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-elub4DtpEI

Comply or face jail: must comply with the Sexual Harassment Act

Organisations irrespective whether they have women employees 

or not must comply with the Sexual Harassment Act

How many women face sexual harassment at workplace? It could come in any form from indecent jokes, innuendos, ogling, inappropriate remarks, pictures and, text messaging and MMS. Women do not complain fearing job loss and stigma that one may get as a nasty cribber.  Some organisations even consider this harmless, while refuse to recognize the difference between a compliment and harassment. Do women have to suffer silently? Don’t they have any redressal mechanism? These incidents lead to a cycle of depression for the victim and ultimately lead to loss of morale, motivation and cause under performance and even absenteeism which contributes to a hostile work environment. Aggrieved women even feel insecure and quit jobs while organisations lose trained employees and the time and resources spent on training simply go waste. The government has brought out The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 on 9^th December 2013, but unfortunately most organisations do not seem to be aware of the need to comply with the law. In this interview to PRapport, Vishal Kedia, who has been advising companies thorough his company Complykaro, decodes the law and explains how women need not shy away from asserting their rights.

Question:What is the significance of the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law?

Answer:  The Government of India, on the directive of the Supreme Court, has brought out The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 w.e.f. 9^th December 2013 to create a safe, secure and conducive work environment for women.

Vishal Kedia making a special presentation at 9th Global
Communication Conclave on March 14, 2015

Organisation can no longer dismiss workplace sexual harassment with a ‘Chalta Hai’ attitude as it is their responsibility to ensure safety of all women whether employed in their premise or coming in contact with other people within their premises. It mandates that organisations employing 10 or more employees should have Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at each of its location to tackle the complaints of harassment and gender bias.  Failure to comply with the law could lead to heft penalties, imprisonment and even closure of business. In fact a company in Chennai, where a woman complained of sexual harassment, was fined Rs1.68 crores for its failure to comply with the law. 

Question:How does one comply with the law? 

Answer: Apart from the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), every firm needs to formulate an Anti-Sexual Harassment policy and publicise penal consequences of sexual harassment by putting up necessary posters.   All employees – male and female - must be made to undergo sensitization training programme so that they understand what constitutes sexual harassment and their rights and responsibilities as per the law.

Question: Is this law going to safeguard only those who are working in a particular company?

Answer: As per law, management of government offices and every private firm are responsible to ensure that no women (whether she is an employee or not) is sexually harassed within their premises. Even if a women is harassed at a mall, railway station or airport the management of such premises is legally obliged to assist the aggrieved women make a complaint against the accused, if she desires to do so.

Question: Tell us something about the ICC and how the committee needs to function?

Answer: At least 50% of the committee members must be women including the Presiding Officer who must be a woman employed at senior level within the firm.   There must be minimum two other employee members and an external member who is an Advocate or social worker from an NGO or association committed to the cause of women.  Such members must undergo skill training programme.

The ICC is mandatory at each location for any organisation employing 10 or more people, irrespective of men or women.  The companies need to file their compliance statement as part of their Annual Reports.

In case the complaint is against the management itself or in case the firm is a small outfit having less than 10 employees, the law provides for a district level Local Complaints Committee (LCC) setup by the Government for redressal of such complaints.

Question: What if any organisation fails to comply with the law?

Answer: The law is clear. As I said, non-compliance with the law can invite trouble for the managements, from fines to shutting down of businesses. They even face charges of abetment of the crime and criminal prosecution.

Question: Is the law applicable only to companies?

Answer: No. It is applicable to all, including associations, proprietorship, partnership firms, LLP, trust, society, clubs and sports events like marathons and matches, schools, colleges.

Question: What do you think of the awareness levels of the law?

Answer: Unfortunately, not many seem to be aware of the law. A quick survey by the field staff of Complykaro in Mumbai’s business districts of Nariman Point and Parel showed that less than three per cent of the big and small offices are aware of the law and most of even those do not have ICCs at each location or have done training of employees and committee members. That’s a sad situation. But I am happy that increasing number of women employees have now begun to take the issue seriously. They are complaining. My sincere appeal to all companies, groups and management is that they should comply with the law. Sooner the better, else be ready to suffer as women are asserting their rights.

Kerala teams bag honours at PRCI Awards

PRCI Kerala Chapter Chairman U S Kutty, Secretary T Vinay Kumar Treasurer P K Natesh and Regional Council Member Sunil Kannath receiving the Best Chapter  Award  from the Hon. Union Minister for Tribal Welfare Sri Jual Oram at the 9th Global Communication Conclave at India Habitat Centre new Delhi. PRCI Chief Mentor & Chairman Emeritus M B Jayaram, The Week Resident Editor Sachidanad Moorthy and National President B N Kumar are also seen.The Kerala Chapter Secretary of PRCI T Vinay Kumar got the Best Secretary Award also.

PRCI appoints BNK as new Prez - Media coverage snapshot

From the President's Desk: Hi-derabad!

Hello PRCIans!

We had a good meeting at Hyderabad on Monday evening.

It was nice to see a rejuvenated and fully committed Hyderabad team under the able leadership of Dr Ghisulal Jain renewing its efforts to keep the PRCI flag flying.

An ever enthusiastic TVS Narayan has also promised to work selflessly. And we are all fortunate to have the guidance from veteran and PRCI co-founder Neelu.

Now, coming to brass tacks, Hyderabad team will focus on:

1. Renewing the membership drive and getting old members into action
2. An event at which the Telangana CM and key ministers will be called
3. Write to all journalism and masscom colleges, including Osmania University and Dr Ambedkar University about YCC and open chapters there (TVS has agreed to take up the responsibility)
4. Guest Faculty pool and training programmes (on the basis of the successful Mumbai model)
5. Keep reporting about PROFESSIONAL activities.
6. Drawing up of advisers from among senior journalists and corporate honchos and seek their advise on working out programmes.
7. Look out for an opportunity to open an Andhra Pradesh Chapter at Vizag/Vijayawada

With my Andhra connections and media contacts, I will chip in my wee bit.

With these and many more to come, I am sure we will work towards ‘inclusive communication’ that we have been discussing.

Yours sincerely

PRCI report on top web site

In this report on current affairs, PRCI news is second only after Lata Mangeshkar's award!

http://bankingmaterials.net/top-current-affairs-21st-march-2015/

Banking Materials

Web edition

Lata Mangeshkar won Laadli Voice of the Century Award 2015  Current Affairs
Veteran singer Lata Mangeshkar is presented with the Laadli voice of the century award for the year 2015. The award was given away to her at the sixth edition of National Media and Advertising awards for Gender Sensitivity. Maharashtra chief minister was the chief guest at the ceremony in which awards were presented.

BN Kumar Appointed National President of Public Relations Council of India - PRCI  Current Affairs
BN Kumar is appointed the new national president for Public Relations Council of India. PRCI announced that he earlier serve as vice president of PRCI Mumbai Chapter. He is presently concept PR Executive director. BN Kumar has forty years of experience as public relations professional and journalist.

RNAIPL Appointed Colin MacDonald as Managing Direction  Current Affairs
Colin MacDonald is appointed the new managing director of Renault Nissan Automotive India. Colin will assume his duties on April 1 of this year. He will look after operations of Renault Nissan Alliance Factory near Chennai which exports cars to more than hundred countries. He is presently working as Deputy Managing director in the company. He jointed Renault Nissan in 1991.

Kiwis Enter Semifinals and West Indies Knocked Out of World Cup 2015  Current Affairs
In the last quarter finals of world cup 2015, New Zealand defeated West Indies by 143 runs. Guptil's unbeatable double century and Boult's super spell helped New Zealand in this. Double century hero Guptill is announced man of thematch. The first semi final match will be played between New Zealand and South Africa on 24th of this month.

I am not retiring from any format of cricket : Gayle  Current Affairs
West Indies star player Chris Gayle asserted that he is not retiring from any format of cricket. He made it clear that the retirement news doing rounds are only rumors.  But he is suffering from back pain and may not be available for the test series with England.  Gayle added that without any doubt he will be representing West Indies in T20 world cup and he is not retiring from any form of cricket.

Water Health India Received All India Management Association Award  Current Affairs

Water Health India won the All India Management Association Award. The award was received by Water Health India COO Vikas Shah.  Water Health India is proving drinking water to nearly fifty lakh people through 450 water health centers in south Indian states apart from Gujarat state.

Date: 03/26/2015 By Line:Anji

Top Current Affairs : 21st March 2015:Current Affairs

“Think Big. Question. Dare. Stand out.”

Masterstroke Interview with Shravani Dang, VP & Group Head,Corp Communications, Avantha Group

March 25, 2015 Richa Seth Interviews, Vikypedia Exclusives 0 Comments

Communications is now complex and a rapidly evolving field, youngsters who plan to join this industry should be Adaptive, expect Constant Change, Engage in the conversation, Build Alliances, Be Anticipative, Focus on Impact and the Results and lastly develop Skills to adapt digital media, says Shravani Dang, Experienced leader in Corporate Communications, Citizenship, Diversity, Board Member APACD. In a candid interview with Richa Seth, she shares her experiences and insights, please read on the interview below, courtesy Vikypedia.

1. Tell us about yourself and the exciting journey you have had over the past decade in the field of corporate and media communications?

As a communicator, I speak about my organization and not about myself so it is a tough call to do so!  I have worked in for both Indian and MNC organizations for profit and not for  profit organizations and across sectors- IT (HCL & CSC), Financial Services (Fidelity), not for profit (Delhi University, CARE) Industrial (Avantha).   I am privileged to have the experience in developing and implementing communications strategies and working closely with senior executives. This also means that the challenge to work with diverse teams is actually a most interesting and stimulating part. It’s learning about countries, cultures, work practices, economies, priorities and so much more. Working with teams globally allows me to exercise both my strong interpersonal and motivational skills and use my intuitive sense of tact and diplomacy.

2. What is the importance of the role of a communications department in such large conglomerates?

“Effective communicationis a building block of successful organizations”. At conglomerates,Corporate Communications is a service-oriented function which enhances the organisation’s image credibly and strengthens its competitive advantage among its multiple internal and external stakeholders through proactive and two-way communications. Communications also helps to win the trust and confidence of various stakeholders.

At large conglomerates, the Communications department is its public face and builds the brand image and reputation both externally and internally. As conglomerates straddle multiple businesses, organizational reputation is an asset and communicators play a large role in maintaining and increasing reputational capital. A reputation measurement with regular audits and listing of reputational challenges and vulnerabilities, goals and opportunities is critical here.

At Avantha- the communications departments’ main business is to enhance the Avantha brand and reputation credibly.

3. Please could you tell us, how do you manage the herculean task of consistent and appropriate messaging/communications of the eight companies and six affiliated organizations that you oversee at the Avantha Group?

“Think Big. Question. Dare. Stand out.” This is the motto of the Communications function at the Avantha Group. We use a results-oriented approach for traditional, digital and emerging methods while facilitating Avantha to manage both corporate and brand reputation.

At Avantha, we take deep dives to discover, shape and build the Avantha story in the right place globally. Like most organizations, the Communications strategy includes the Avantha story and its narrative across platforms and channels. The Communications function operates at two levels – Group and Entities.  We have an engagement model between the entities and the Group. This enables us to work together effectively. For some of the smaller entities- we incubate the Communications function.

4. Do you have an external agency managing your communications on traditional and social media platforms? If yes, how does it tie in with your overall communication strategy?

We use agencies for all such functions and activation and it is imperative that they link up to the Avantha Communications strategy.

5. Please can you share your experience of a successful PR/Integrated communications campaign that worked very well for Avantha Group?

A once in a lifetime integrated campaign was my remit when I joined the Group. The task was to understand, define, devise, execute and leverage an identity for the newly formed Group of companies under the leadership of the Chairman. From the qualitative and quantitative surveys to understanding what our brand is, what is the personality and character and then defining it was a start point. I worked with the best market research agencies and brand advisors to create an image of what we are and what we stand for. Then came the expression of the name options, articulation of the vision and values and selection of logo.

We rolled this out the entire programme same day across our offices globally with precision. All channels of communications were used. Incredible today the Avantha name and brand is well recognized globally in this short span of time. Launched the Avantha Group’s first internal communications platform-Avantha Times- Avantha’s monthly digitised newsletter collating organisation information and updates from across business sector for employees worldwide. Initial 2-pages now expanded to 30 pages. Awarded Asian Publishing Awards for Innovative Corporate Communications.

Two cover stories in Business India, BusinessWorld and multiple stories in leading global publications- Wall Street Journal, Knowledge@Wharton, Financial Times, Economist, Forbes among the many ensued.

6. Your comment on ‘Women can’t have it all’, what are the unique challenges you face when you managed communications of large reputed brands with large employee base as well as large presence across geographies?

Gender has never been an issue- I am a professional and meritocracy has always prevailed.

7. Tell us about the objective of setting up APACD (Asia Pacific Association of Communication Directors) , could you touch upon some of the initiatives/activities undertaken by this group?

On June 20th, 2014 more than 80 senior communicators from 15 countries gathered in Hong Kong at the HSBC headquarters to launch the APACD, the first international network for in-house communication professional across the Asia-Pacific region.

The APACD is planning some exciting and engaging initiatives. To have a strong and solid basis, we have launched our country networks. By hosting debates, presentations and discussions on the latest trends and concerns in PR and corporate communications, we aim to gather and share the accumulated knowledge of our members and peers and to grow a strong network.

Our think tanks, the APACD Working Groups, will offer further important platforms for expertise and thorough peer-exchange. Working Groups will either explore specific concerns or areas of interest, or discuss the common communication challenges faced by a given industry. Moreover, the APACD is publishing Communication Director magazine, a leading resource for information and analysis on corporate communications and PR, as well as provide members with practical service brochures that will offer expertise and solutions to a wide variety of concerns in today’s world of PR. We have recently launched our Indian Country Network. The topic of the event is“Communications: The vital link for business, brand and bottom line” with two expert speakers -Dr. Mukund Rajan, Brand Custodian and Group Spokesperson, Tata Group and Nishant K. Rao, Country Manager, LinkedIn India. At our event, Mukund Rajan and Nishant K. Rao shared their thoughts, from the perspective of business leaders, on the strategic nature of communications, the opportunities and challenges the communications function must embrace in order to be even more successful. The session was moderated by Anant Rangaswami, editor of Storyboard on CNBC-TV18.

8. What will be your advise/recommendations for youngsters who are planning to join corporate communications?

Here’s my recommendation for young communicators

• Be adaptive, expect constant change
• Engage in the conversation
• Build alliances
• Be anticipative
• Focus on impact and results, not activities
• Understand that communications is now complex and rapidly moving field
• Understand, debate new forms of social media and big data

Pune Chapter: Enthusiasm Un-bound!

Here are the snapshots of events organised by our Pune Chapter, building the Brand PRCI.

Vikram Kharvi launches his first book – PRactice What you PReach

NEW DELHI: A seasoned PR practitioner, lecturer and a blogger – Vikram Kharvi, launched his first book focusing on the world of Public Relations industry during the 9th Global Communication Conclave organised by PRCI in the capital on March 13, 2015.

COAI Director General Rajan Mathews and Editors Guild India's General Secretary Ajay Upadhyay released the book which is an insider’s account about the changing face of public relations. Published by Revelation House, the book aims to provide practical solutions to common problems faced by PR practitioners.  

Mr Rajan Mathews, DG of COAI, launching Vikram Kharvi's book

The author has provided comprehensive answers to myriad questions including what constitutes PR, how a PR practitioner interacts with the media and how one can communicate effectively. Public Relations requires a lot from its practitioners – be it communication, knowledge, skill, writing ability, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence etc. Through this book, Vikram intends to bring up all these essential ingredients and discuss them in detail.

Author, Vikram Kharvi says, “This book will provide the practicing PR professionals with tips and tricks of the trade and for the students of public relations across all levels it is aimed to be an invaluable study aid and a quick peek into the industry they plan to enter. I sincerely hope that the educators too find it useful.”

Mr. Madan Bahal, MD, Adfactors PR, in the Foreward of the book cites, “Vikram has done a fine job in explaining why it is imperative for a PR professional to keep oneself updated at all times. Indeed, a PR consultant needs to engage with multiple stakeholders from different walks of life and develop multi-faceted relationships with each community.

He has drawn beautiful parallels to the art of PR with examples from mythology and metaphorical situations. This, I believe, will make the book an easier and more interesting read among budding and prospective PR practitioners.”

Mr. Brotin Banerjee, MD & CEO, Tata Housing in the Preface says, “With the changing times, especially with the internet playing an important role, across all industries that rely on communication, the world of PR and communications has been dramatically altered. To be successful in such a dynamic industry, PR and communication professionals need to stay on the learning curve 24 x 7. I hope this book reaches the right people and in the process of reading this, they are enlightened about the marvelous world of PR and communications.”

9th Global Communication Conclave pix on slide show

Just click on this or copy-paste the link on your browser. Happy viewing. PL chk full screen option on the right bottom corner of the pix.

http://www.kizoa.com/slideshow-maker/d18990284k4621060o1/9th-global-communication-conclave

Press Council must get more teeth, says Prasar Bharati Chief

• Media self-regulatory mechanism appears inadequate,
• says A Surya Prakash
• Addresses PRCI Global Communication Conclave
• DD reviving news programmes, looking for new ratings agency
• Conclave delegates express concern at ethical standards among media and PR professionals

NEW DELHI: Expressing concern at the “inadequate’ self-regulatory mechanism within media, Prasar Bharati Chairman A. Surya Prakash has suggested that the Press Council must become a Media Council with adequate media representation and acquire more teeth.   

Some of the private news channels have been creating noise during their prime time shows ignoring the news content. Viewers could now watch DD News or listen to All India Radio (AIR) is they were tired of the ‘noise channels’, he said and pointed out that “each and every Indian is a stake holder in Prasar Bharati since it depends on Union budgetary support - about Rs 2,100 crore out of its Rs 4,000-crore budget in the current financial year. Its own revenue generation was around Rs 1,650 crore as of now and with increased focus on internal revenue generation, this was expected to improve.  

Mr Surya Prakash, who is himself if a veteran journalist, was addressing an open session at the 9th Global Communication Conclave organized by the communication industry body Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) in the capital.

Mr Rajan Mahew, DG, COAI

Earlier during a panel discussion on media and PR ethics, delegates expressed concern over the recent developments that led to unpleasant developments. Responding, Editors Guild general secretary Ajay Upadhyay said the entire media community need not be painted with the same brush just because of some perceived unethical practices. Most media houses do have gatekeepers in the form of strong news desks and editors to check the flow of the news into the newspapers and channels.

Veteran journalist Mr K A Badarinathi, Editor-Poicy at Financial Chronicle, explained that media persons in general take adequate care while using tones of information that they get in the process of collecting the news.

During the two-day conclave that concluded on Saturday, communication professionals took part in panel discussions on media and PR ethics, CSR, financial inclusion, youth, technology and sexual harassment at workplace during the two-day Conclave ended on Saturday evening.

Rajan Mathews, Director General of Cellular Operators Association of India who delivered the keynote address, pointed out that misinformation is being spread on the so-called radiation effects from cell phone towers whereas there is no scientific evidence of such an impact. The mobile tower radiation emission standards that are being practiced in India are much more stringent than the western and European norms, he said.

Panel discussion on Financial Inclusion: 

Participating in a panel discussion on financial inclusion, former CMD of Canara Bank Rajiv Dubey said media should play a major role in increasing the financial literacy in the country, while Mr Shubhrangshu Neogi, Director and Head of Marketing & Brand-Religare emphacised the need to cut the jargon and simplify the flow of information to the masses. Financial services companies to need to involve PR machinery to educate the people about various plans and schemes and ensure inclusive growth, said Mohit Rochlani, CMO of IndiaFirst Life Insurance.
Discussion moderator and senior financial journalist Ritukant Ozha said media has an important role to play in furthering the cause of financial inclusion and asked financial institutions to be transparent in their communication with journalists.

M B Jayaram, Chairman Emeritus & Chief Mentor - PRCI 

Based on the suggestions from speakers, PRCI has decided to launch an awareness drive for adopting ethical practices among public relations practitioners and conduct skill development programmes for professionals to understand the functioning of media and its information needs, Mr M B Jayaram – Chairman Emeritus and Chief Mentor of PRCI, said.

Mr Surya Prakash said in his speech that the news packages on Doordarshan and All India Radio are being revamped to make them contemporary and appealing to the audience. The average age of employees at Prasar Bharati was 50 plus because of the absence of a Prasar Bharati Recruitment Board. There was need for fresh infusion of talent and therefore there was urgent need to have the recruitment boards in place.

Side by side, he explained, work was on to change the look and feel of the news channel and programmes and to get over the “Sarkari mindset” within the organization. “We have been working towards setting up a Prasar Bharati Recruitment Boards to work towards this goal,” he said to a question.

Editors Guild General Secretary (left) being
felicitated by CJ Singh, vice president (NE-PRCI)

Prasar Bharati is also looking forward to a new rating agency as the present system of gauging TRPs is woefully inadequate. “Hopefully, once the new system is in place, we will have a more authentic gauge of our viewership and listenership” he said.

Prasar Bharati is also in the process of strengthening its social media presence. For instance, DD has 610,000 followers and AIR 510,000 on the twitter and this is not enough. “We need to take a big leap forward,” he said and pointed out that the Republic Day parade video has over two million hits on Youtube and “this is a pointer to the rewards one gets for quality programming”. 

PRCI also felicitated PR professionals with Hall of Fame awards and presented the Chanakya Awards for exemplary performance.