Tamil Nadu Govt Appoints 4 Bureaucrats To Brief Media
The State government, for the first time in history, has appointed four senior bureaucrats in the rank of additional chief secretaries as spokespersons to brief the media on its various schemes and initiatives with a view to expeditiously reaching out to the members of the public with the relevant information.
Chennai:The State government, for the first time in history, has appointed four senior bureaucrats in the rank of additional chief secretaries as spokespersons to brief the media on its various schemes and initiatives with a view to expeditiously reaching out to the members of the public with the relevant information.
The appointment of J Radhakrishnan, Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Dheeraj Kumar and P Amudha as spokespersons of the government on Monday was seen as a smart move by the DMK government, led by M K Stalin, aimed at ramp up its communication with the media that would help convey the government’s achievements to the people in the election year.
Hitherto, State Ministers addressed the media at various places in the State to disseminate the information that they wanted the public to know. During the tenures of M Karunanidhi as Chief Minister, most of the media briefing on government activities was done by him.
In the case of other governments, most of the regular official communication with the media was through press releases though the Ministers and officials, too, addressed media conferences.
But now since the government wanted the media to be briefed about each and every development, particularly with regard to the various welfare schemes, the four senior bureaucrats would ensure the timely dissemination of information on key programmes by coordinating with the departments concerned and also verifying them.
Among them, Radhakrishnan will be in charge of information relating to the departments of energy, health, welfare of non-resident Tamils, school and higher education, handlooms, handicrafts, Textiles and Khadi, and Human Resources Management, an official press release said.
Bedi will impart information on municipal administration and water supply, rural development and Panchayat Raj, animal husbandry, dairy, fisheries, agriculture, water resources, environment, climate change and forests, MSME, industries, investment promotion & commerce, besides natural resources departments, while Dheeraj Kumar will take care of home, prohibition and excise departments.
Amudha will be in charge of the departments of revenue and disaster management, social welfare and women's empowerment, welfare of differently abled persons, labour welfare and skill development, Adi Dravidar and Tribal welfare, BC, MBC and Minorities welfare, housing and urban development, highways and minor ports, tourism, culture, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments, and special programme implementation departments.
On Monday, Amudha addressed media persons at the Secretariat to explain about the Chief Minister launching a camp in Chidambaram Municipality in Cuddalore district on Tuesday marking the implementation of ‘Ungaludan Stalin’ (Stalin with You) scheme.
She said that the Chief Minister had told the officials to ensure that complaints received through ‘Ungaludan Stalin’ should be redressed within 45 days. She also explained how the other schemes aimed at redressing people’s grievances were implemented by the government. Like the ‘Chief Minister’s Address’ (Muthalamicharin Mugavari) that had disposed of 1.01 crore of the total 1.05 crore complaints received in four years.
Stalin left for Chidambaram by boarding a train from Tambaram railway station on Monday evening to launch the ‘Ungaludan Stalin’ programme, under which 1000 camps would be held all over the State. He was seen off at the station by his Ministerial and party colleagues besides a large number of supporters who had thronged the platform.
