An Annotated Reading

Guide to the Modi

Government’s
Tool-Kit
for Managing the Media

(All highlights and comments

in this document are inputs
from The Wire’s editorial team)

Report of the

Group of Ministers

on

Government Communication
 Index

S.No. Item Page No.

1 Executive Summary 3

2 Vision 5

3 Positive Initiatives in Vogue 5

4 Details of interactions and feedback 8

5 10 Big Initiatives 31

6 Strategy 46

7 Action Point 51

8 Responsibility – Issue-wise 56

9 Responsibility – Group of Secretaries-wise 70

10 Conclusion 92

11 Annexure – 1 93

12 Annexure – 2 94

13 Annexure – 3 95

14 Annexure – 4 96

15 Annexure – 5 97

2
 1. Executive Summary
A Committee of Group of Ministers (GoM) comprising of six Ministers
was constituted to submit the report on “Government Communication”.

Everything has the

The GoM made its 1st presentation to the Hon’ble Prime Minister who
Dear Leader’s
guiding hand guided the GoM with his insights and gave vital inputs. Thereafter, the
GoM was expanded with the inclusion of three senior Ministers – Shri
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Smt. Smriti Irani and Dr. S. Jaishankar. The list of
members of the GoM comprising 9 (nine) ministers is enclosed as
Annexure-1. The GoM met six times on 14/06, 20/06, 22/06, 26/06,
28/06 & 09/07/2020. A meeting with prominent personalities was also
held at the residence of Shri Kiren Rijiju on 26/06/2020. A list of
participants of this meeting is enclosed as Annexure-2.

For obtaining a wider perspective on the issue, the GoM held

interactions over VC with separate groups including:

It turns out that all the

‘prominent’ persons
consulted are 1. Comprising of prominent persons from the media field on
supporters of the
government 23/062020 (Annexure-3) and 24.06.2020 (Annexure-4).
2. with members of the industry / business chambers on
30/062020 (Annexure-5).
The plan is to
reduce the
media to After detailed deliberations, it was decided to identify 10 big
DAVP and
begs the narratives of the Government. These narratives are reflective of the
question of
why the good work / initiatives taken by the Government for the welfare of the
government’s
policies need
such a hard
people. It was agreed to identify the strategies that can be adopted to
sell if they
are indeed
take these messages to the people and to suggest the specific action
benefiting the
people. points by which it can be done. In the process, the shortcomings and

3
 gaps in engagements with various stakeholders of media at both
domestic and international levels was also identified so that these can
be bridged for effective dissemination of the messages.

The deliberations of the GoM focussed on evolving multi-pronged

strategy to take these 10 big narratives to the people by various means
including direct connect by elected representatives and state &district

The GoM is
level representatives, engaging with media houses and academia at
clearly
confident that national and international level, utilizing all types of media, feeding
media houses
can be “fed” them with positive stories and testimonials, developing institutional
stories
mechanisms for structured engagements, developing DD International
on lines of best international public broadcasters and strengthening a
resource pool of domain experts. It was decided that every ministry
should identify two major public outreach programs in a year along with
one day of pre-event publicity and one day of post-event coverage. This
Plan for
year-
way, for around 300 days in a year, there will be coverage of one or the
round
saturation other government program. It was also agreed to establish a new
coverage
communication wing for effectively disseminating information & taking
feedbacks.It was also agreed to establish a strong Fact Check Unit and to
more effectively use the social media for targeted communication. A
research unit shall also be set up to collate all information in proper
formats for easyand timely retrieval. An Integrated dashboard should
also be developed.

The GoM has identified and suggested strategies and action points
to achieve these targets, together with identification of responsibility –

4
 issue-wise, ministry-wise and Group of Secretaries-wise –for effective
and timely action.
2. Vision

2.1 Effective dissemination of Government policies, programs and

achievement.

2.2 Strengthening Communication strategy with focus on last mile and

front line communication.
The report
assumes that
news which is
critical of the
2.32.3 Timely dissemination of authentic/factual news and curbing fake
government is
‘fake’ news and news.
needs to be
curbed.

2.4 Projecting India’s international image

3. Positive Initiatives in Vogue

3.1 Fact check unit by PIB / Rejoinders – The Ministry of Information

& Broadcasting has set up a Fact Check Unit under PIB which is
1. The PIB Fact Check headed by a DG level officer. This unit collects the news from
Unit has itself been
accused of promoting various sources like print, electronic, online and social media. It
fake news:
https://bit.ly/3kNRWl5
identifies the fake news and the false narratives. In collaboration
2. Many of its ‘fact
checks’ are tendentious with the concerned ministries, it verifies the veracity of the news
and wrong:
https://bit.ly/3kNRWl5 and, if found fake / incorrect, the said news is marked as “FAKE”
and circulated. It has been successfully working for last four
months.

5
 3.2 Press releases in all languages – All the press releases by the PIB
is now released in all the major regional languages. This ensures
that the desired message is properly sent across and the essence
Thousands of of its meaning is not lost / twisted during translation.
‘violations’ are
logged by the
EMMC each year
but action is only
taken in a handful
3.3 Integrated and Theme based communication – All the
of cases, and is
often driven by communications now are theme based instead of being ministry-
political
considerations, wise. Common themes based on the focused target segments are
when the Ministry
ordered NDTV being formulated and the initiatives of various ministries are
India off the air
as a penalty for a
non-violation
clubbed so as to give complete information to people.

See: https://bit.ly/3sUkmg6
3.4 Integrated Dash board and EMMC – Electronic Media Monitoring
Cell (EMMC) is a unit under MIB that monitors around 800 TV
For the
controversy
over the MIB
channels round the clock. It identifies the programmes which
ban on
AsiaNet and violate the programme code and other guidelines of the Ministry
MediaOne for
critical and flags them. Based on these reports, further appropriate
coverage of
the Delhi actions are taken by the concerned.
riots, see:
https://bit.ly/3sSoI7k

This is one area

of unquestionable
3.5 Massive push to publication of articles by experts/ministers – In
success. Krishna
Prasad has the last few months a concerted effort has been undertaken to
tracked the
steady inroads publish the articles by the domain experts and Ministers. More
BJP ministers
and leaders have than 60 articles have been published so far. This is to ensure that
made in op-ed
pages. “In 31
days of August
the government’s point of view is put in right perspective and the
2019, 5 leading
English false narratives are effectively countered.
newspapers had
63 political and
almost-political
bylines on their 3.6 Positive news, testimonials and Fake news busted – This is a new
edit and op-ed
pages. Leader of
the pack: ‘The
initiative by MIB wherein the positive news and testimonials are
Indian Express’
with 32 BJP
voices in 39 6
pieces”.
See https://bit.ly/2 OqAwyH
and https://bit.ly/3bjkKPg
 collected from the ground level by DD, AIR and PIB. Till now more
than 10,000 positive news and testimonials have been collected.
The only problem is
that the BJP has itself
been flagged by
These are disseminated through DD and AIR network. Further,
Twitter for promoting
fake news. See ‘For every day, two positive news, two testimonials and fake news
the First Time in India,
Twitter Flags BJP IT busts are circulated through the WhatsApp group of all the
Cell's 'Manipulated
Media' Ministers and their social media coordinators.
https://bit.ly/3riTm9w

3.7 Dedicated education channels – During this time of pandemic, for

the benefit of the students, dedicated educational channels have
been promoted. The DD has given the timeslots to relay the
educational contents of the various states in the regional DD
channels. Swayam Prabha channels are coordinated by the
Ministry of Human Resource Development. In addition, the
private DTH service providers were also roped in and they have

This frank provided three dedicated channels through their platform

admission that the
FDI cap is aimed at services.
curbing anti-
government ‘bias’
is in stark contrast
to the official
rationale put out of
3.8 Social media advertisement policy – Social media is very relevant
by the PIB last year.
See “It has been in the present times and so, a dedicated social media
decided to permit
26% FDI under advertisement policy has been released to be operated by the
government route
for uploading/ Bureau of Outreach Communication (BOC), MIB. It will provide
streaming of News
& Current Affairs
through Digital
the framework through which the advertisement would be
Media, on the lines
of print media. released on the social media.

https://bit.ly/3roQvMf

3.9 Digital news media – Steps have been taken to ensure that the
See also: ‘Govt wants
level playing field for news reporting on digital media is not biased primarily due to its
print, digital media
with FDI: I&B foreign investment component. It has been decided to cap the
Secretary Amit Khare’
https://bit.ly/3c2f8rE
7
 foreign investment to 26% and the process to implement the
same is under way.

4. Details of Interactions and Feedback

4.1. Interactions

4.1.1 6 (SIX) Meetings of GoM were held on –14/06, 20/06,

22/06, 26/06, 28/06 & 09/07/2020.
4.1.2 A meeting with prominent personalities on 26/06/2020 at
the residence of Shri Kiren Rijiju.
4.1.3 A VC with the prominent media persons on 23/062020 and
24.06.2020.
4.1.4 A VC with the reTperxtesentatives of industry chambers on
Text

30.06.2020.

4.2 The following were the observations / comments of the Hon’ble

Members of GoM who participated in the meetings:

4.2.1 Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad

(Minister of Law & Justice and Communications,
Information & Technology and Electronics)

• Focussed media strategy need to be evolved.

• Focus should be on setting the narrative.
• Contemporary issues should be highlighted.
• While we get insightful suggestions, it is not explained how
despite being in Government, there is still a gap in the

8
A frank admission by Ravi
Shankar Prasad that the
government is bothered
by the ability of The Wire
and Scroll to challenge online media like Wire, Scroll and some regional media. Our
the official narrative and
that “despite being in core media intervention is not getting enlarged.
government” the BJP is
not doing enough to • Concept of“Pokhran effect” is good and should be used in
enlarge its “core media
intervention”.
other messaging also.
‘Pokhran effect’ • We should evolve a strategy for effective communication in
reference is presumably
to an ‘information
explosion’ in favour of the evolving geo-political situation.
the government.
• Some of our most successful schemes like Ujjwala, etc., are
not getting coverage in the media.
• Frequent interactions with media are good but they all ask
for some extra information. How that can be provided?
• Our embassies should be more pro-active.
Senior minister • A list of media personnel and prominent persons, who are
proposes assembling
“media personnel and pro our line of thought – both nationally and globally,
prominent persons”
including retired Indian
diplomats “who are pro
should be prepared.
our line of thought” and
can be used to “project • Few eminent academicians, VCs, retired IFS officers etc
our viewpoint” as their
own. should be identified who can write our achievements and
project out view point.

4.2.2 Smt. Smriti Irani

(Minister of Textiles and Women & Child Development)

• We should partner with the social media platforms like

Senior minister
proposes the Facebook, Youtube, Twitter etc. They need to be engaged
government not just
create blacklists informally also.
and whitelists of
‘influencers’ on
social media but
• The content should be developed in all the languages.
“track’ them too.
• We should track 50 negative and 50 positive influencers.

9
 • The Webinars should be organized in various colleges and
high schools on different topics.
• Webinars can be organised in various international forums.
• Team of content creators in local languages should be
developed.
• List of eminent persons from various fields / twitter
influencers should be prepared.
Outsourcing messaging to
private ‘bloggers’ who will • List of bloggers should be prepared mainly to write on
promote the government’s
narrative, presumably
without disclosing the international platforms.
outsourced connection.
• IICR should be made more active.
• We should identify the themes on which Government is

Curious proposal given attacked and prepare proper and timely response.
that private radio in
India is not allowed to • The medium of radio should be properly and effective used.
broadcast news and
current affairs

4.2.3 Shri Prakash Javadekar

(Minister of Environment, Forests & Climate Change and
Information & Broadcasting and Heavy Industries & Public
Enterprises)

I&B minister’s approach

• The narrative is fuelled by around 20-30 people. The lines
is clearly that there are
“20-30 people” who are keep changing many times on a single day.
the main obstacle in the
way of the government’s • The challenge is to set positive narratives regularly.
“narrative” prevailing
• It is very important to counter the falsenarratives in both
national and international media.
• We should efficiently use the existing resources for better
communication and outreach.
• Bold decisions should be made.

10
 • Strategize on how perception is to be built – adopt

Reference to the party in

decentralised approach at Tehsil, district level and state
a document prepared
with public funds shows levels also.
an unconstitutional
blurring of boundary • Every MP / MLA of party should be involved to disseminate
lines between
government and party information to public
Obligatory sycophantic
reference to Narendra • We should learn from how PM communicates with the
Modi. Remember, the
GoM made a common man and include it in our strategy.
presentation to the
Prime Minister on its • Issues to be raised strongly on positive and negative points.
recommendations.

4.2.4 Dr. S. Jaishankar

(Minister of External Affairs)

• Our messaging should be clear including the focus on

narratives.
• We need to identify 10 big narratives and then work on how
to take the messages regarding these to the common
people.
Recognition by the
foreign minister that
messaging designed
• We should prepare separate, appropriate and different
for the Indian media is
not going to be narrative for International media.
suitable for the
international media • The people in age group of 25-35 should be targeted
through all languages digital media.

4.2.5 Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

(Minister of Minority Affairs)

• We need to establish our own system of social media,

regional media, press etc.

11
 • Domain experts should be identified and their views should
be taken on important issues.
• The Doordarshan should be strengthened with more
efficient human resources. The credibility of DD and DD

Demonising critical
International should be established.
news reporting and
commentary seems • Embassies should play more active role in reaching out to
to be a constant
refrain for Modi international media and people globally.
government
ministers. The • We should have a strategy to neutralise the people who are
people doing this
need to be
‘neutralised’. Given writing against the Government without facts and set false
that ‘neutralise’ is
police language for narratives / spread fake news.
‘eliminate’, the use
of the word is
especially jarring.
4.2.6 Shri Kiren Rijiju
(MoS (IC) for Youth Affairs & Sports)

• We need to find how and in what manner communication

should be supported between people to people,
organisation to organisation with the right messages.
• The messages should focus on the issues of national
interest.
• The focus should be on both the national and international
media.
• We should focus on institutional means of communication
so that communication is institutionalised.
• We should focus on the good works done by Government
and disseminate it globally to build global image.
• Success stories need to be amplified.

12
The government
already has multiple
government media
platforms but the
minister here clearly
envisages the creation • We need to create a media platform and a panel of eminent
of a media platform
that is private but
would work for the media spokespersons.
government.
• A good team to handle social media should be developed.
And instead of
mooting “eminent
spokespersons” who
can be deployed in the
media, he wants
government 4.2.7 Shri Hardeep Singh Puri
spokespersons in the (MoS (IC) for Urban Affairs and Civil Aviation)
media.

• We need to set narrative.

• We need to take bold decisions that are forward looking.
• We are in confrontation situation with political interest and
commercially backed interests.
The minister wants
“productive and • There is a need to highlight the achievements of
supportive journalists
who are not working Government. Whether PIB / DD / AIR are equipped enough
now” to be “roped in”.
But in what capacity is to handle it?
not clear. As advisors
•
to ministries? Or as
media commentators Productive and supportive journalists who are not working
who would bat for the
government without now can be roped in.
disclosing they have
been “roped in”? • A strong narrative should be projected on how we handled
And will the journalists COVID / lockdown situation.
‘roped in’ be paid
based on how
‘supportive’ and • There is a strong need to deal with the international media
‘productive’ they are?
and to shape the global narrative.

4.2.8 Shri Anurag Thakur

(MoS for Finance and Corporate Affairs)

• We need to identify top ideas and they have to be projected

effectively.

13
Anurag Thakur is a
minister who gained
notoriety during the • The right wing parties of other countries need to be roped
Delhi assembly election
for leading BJP
supporters in chanting in so that some common ground could be found.
the slogan, ‘Shoot the
traitors”. He now wants
to rope in “the right wing
parties of other 4.2.9 Shri Babul Supriyo
countries… so that
common ground could
(MoS for Environment, Forests & Climate Change)
be formed” in handling
the media.

Given that right wing • Separate teams may be prepared state wise to deal with the
parties the world over
are all involved in local / state specific issues since they would be more
suppressing media
freedom and targeting
journalists, this effective in coordinating with / controlling regional media.
suggestion does not
augur well for press • Media interactions at both official and ministerial level
freedom in India.
should be organised in all the ministries.
• We should build our own narrative rather than it being set
by the other parties.
Once again, a minister
is flagging the need to
• We should have a system to counter the people who are
“counter” individual
journalists. wrongly / baselessly targeting the Government.

4.3 A meeting was held on 26th June 2020 at the residence of Shri
Kiren Rijiju along with Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi wherein the
Since this report
emerged in the public
domain, some of the
following persons from media attended it:
journalists named here
have denied being part
of a formal consultation
on the government’s (1) Shri Alok Mehta Former editor of Outlook Hindi
media strategy and
have also denied the (2) Shri Jayant Ghoshal Senior editor at Ananda Bazar Patrika
observations attributed
to them by the
government.
(3) Shri Shishir Gupta Senior editor at Hindustan Times

However, none of these (4) Shri Praful Ketkar Editor of RSS mouthpiece ‘Organiser’
journalists or their
employers have issued (5) Smt. Mahua Chatterjee Reporter at Times of India
a statement criticising
the government for (6) Smt. Nistula Haibar Reporter at The Hindu
doing this, which is
surprising, given the
obvious loss of (7) Shri Amitabh Sinha Political editor, News18 channel
reputation stemming
from being showcased
in the GoM report in this 14
manner.
 (8) Shri Ashutosh Believed to be Ashutosh Jha, Bureau Chief, Dainik Jagran

(9) Shri Ram Narain

(10) Shri Ravish Tiwari Reporter with Indian Express

(11) Shri Himanshu Mishra Aajtak TV channel

(12) Shri Ravindra

During the interactions, following observations were made by the

participants:

• Around 75% of media persons are impressed by the

The ‘observations’ made
by these journalists are leadership of Shri Narendra Modi and are ideologically with
astonishing at multiple
levels but primarily
because they suggest they
the party.
see their job as helping
the government puts its • We should form different groups of these persons and
narrative across to the
public as opposed to communicate with them on a regular basis.
doing what journalists are
meant to do: objectively • Lack of communication has resulted in the positive things
scrutinise the functioning
of the government and not being put in an influential manner.
report what they find
•
without fear or favour.
Government should give the supporting background
material to the supportive media before the launch of any
big programme and also during the follow-up for its better
publicity.
• A group of media friendly representatives from the
government (Ministers) and the party should be formed to
give regular information of the government programmes.
• There should not be any contradictions in the messages of
the Government. All the Ministries should speak in one

Reference to ‘party’
voice.
press releases in a
government document is
• The press releases of government and party should be in all
highly unusual and
improper the major regional languages also.

15
 • The PIB is handling the social media, online media, etc., also
with the same staff strength.
• Groups should be formed of supportive editors, columnists,
journalists and commentators and they should be regularly
engaged.

Since foreign media

• The government resources should be effectively used to
cannot be controlled, it
easier to cut off access, ensure that the information reaches to the last person.
which is what the Modi
government has been • The differences between the government and the media
doing by making visas
harder and not allowing have increased and it should be taken care of.
foreign reporters to visit
Kashmir without
permission. Instead, the • The interactions with the foreign media should stop as it is
narrative for the outside
world can be controlled turning out to be counter-productive.
by briefing selected
‘eminent persons’.

4.4 The following were the observations / comments of the

prominent personalities who participated in the VC meeting held

The ‘journalists’ who

by Shri Prakash Javadekar, Hon’ble Minister of Environment,
gave their
recommendations to Forests & CC and Information & Broadcasting and Heavy
Prakash Javadekar
are all openly Industries & Public Enterprises at his residence on 23.06.2020:
aligned to the
current ruling
establishment
4.4.1 Shri S. Gurumurthy Pro-RSS ideologue

• Distinguish between mass communication and elite

communication: both require different approaches. If the
present situation is to be portrayed as a rivalry of power,
this is elite communication.
It is not clear if
Gurumurthy and the • News to carry mixture of truth and untruth.
report is endorsing
official • Important to select and identify persons who can effectively
disinformation.
raise various points / issues.

16
 • Since many issues are global, involve people from
international field also.
• It is necessary to contextualise issue, for example, COVID
spread, lockdown issue, economic issue, China aggression,
Nepal humiliation, etc.
• We have done fantastic work in J&K, which has not been
highlighted. Excellent work is done in agriculture, attracting
FDI. These should be properly projected with regular
reinforcements and should not remain as one-day news.
• Try out different approaches viz., 10 questions to leaders of
Deployment of former
Army officers as ‘force
multipliers’ for BJP opposition parties from the former Army Generals to turn
the narratives.

Use media owners to

• PM, HM, and senior Ministers should talk to the proprietors
push pro-government
journalism in media houses/editors to build confidence.
Exploit economic • How to change the eco-system like Pokhran, how to handle
vulnerability of media
houses to push media hostility, how to bother about main-line media? All
government narrative
these should be focussed upon.
‘Pokhran effect’
presumably means • This is the best time because media is in crisis and we
multiple (information)
explosions in a short should help them.
span of time.
• Planned communication is good for normal times but to
Presumably Nitish
Kumar and Naveen create Pokhran effect, let Shri Nitish Kumar or Shri Naveen
Patnaik will be
comfortable being Patnaik say something about it. This is being done by
used like this
Republic, but Republic is seen as a pariah. Therefore, we
Recognition that
blatant partisanship need a Pokhran to turn the narrative.
of Republic TV will
yield the
government • On Indo-China trade, the current account deficit started
diminishing returns
during the time of Shri Anand Sharma as Commerce

17
 Minister and zero tax on imports from China. These and
such similar stories should be highlighted to the media.

4.4.2 Shri Swapan Dasgupta Long-time pro-BJP publicist, now in Rajya Sabha

The suggestion here is • After 2014, there was a change. It was marginalization of
that criticism of Modi and
the government is only
because Modi does not stalwarts. Mr. Modi won despite them. He chose to ignore
give time to or engage
with former’ stalwarts’ in them. He met people directly through social media. It is this
the media, and not
because of genuine eco-system which is hitting back to remain relevant.
aversion to his policies.
• While the emphasis should remain on reaching out to

Strategy of planting
people,the power of persuasion should be used behind the
information as ‘scoops’
to win loyalty of scenes. These back-channel communications should start
journalists will help
government push its on priority by giving journalists a little bit extra in a
narrative better rather
than the theatrical calibrated approach. The discussions on TV have become
partisanship on display
on TV panel discussions.
joke as people shout at each other. Therefore, it is
necessary to add to power of persuasion.
A former print • While social media is important, the print media should get
journalist sharing his
insights into how real a larger share of narrative.
media works
• Many global journalists do not know whom to talk to.
Therefore, they should be provided information through
need based back channel communication.
• Need to look beyond spokesmen and to get people who can
present good arguments and are professionally trained.

4.4.3 Shri Kanchan Gupta

• A mechanism should be in place so that sensitive political

statements are vetted. It should not be left to PIB officers or

18
 bureaucratsof ministries because political communication is
a skill and an art.
• Deep throat briefing by individuals. Handpick people who
brief them well, draw boundaries, as a tightly knit group
with single command and control for such briefings.
• Contact should be maintained with the representatives of
foreign media and Indian media.
More blurring of the • A list of influencers from the party should be given to such
party/government
Lakshman rekha in a
government document journalists who could be regularly contacted.
• We need spokespersons who do not get personal but focus
on delivering stories of the day with preparations and
stories should be repeated and again.
• Doordarshan can be used to tell the story from
Government’s perspective convincingly.
• The Twitter is a bit of detraction. But WhatsApp and other
This strategy is being
used, but a lot of the social media should be used. A unit / cell to work 24x7 in a
pro-government audio-
visual content being
created has been planned way to create audio-visual contents and stories for
flagged as misleading
or fake. the social media should be created.
• Online news is important because young people under 20

Further recognition by watch it extensively. We should know how to influence the

pro-BJP activists that
independent digital online media or we should have our own On-online portal
news media like The
Wire and Scroll are a with global content.
source of official
anxiety because they
help generate content
• Google promotes content or Print, Wire, Scroll, Hindu, etc.
for the rest of the
national and even which are online news platforms. How to handle this needs
international media.
The lament that Google a separate discussion and should be looked into.
promotes their content,
and the need to ‘handle • Digital media and online media generates much heat and
this’ has been flagged
as something the
government needs a
that usually gets transferred to main national media and
“separate discussion”
on.
19
 international media. Media has also become tech-savvy.
The Communist Party of China’s donation to Rajiv Gandhi
Foundation can be used to build a story.

Defence reporter and author of hagiography of Manohar

4.4.4 Shri Nitin Gokhale Parrikar commissioned by the BJP government in Goa

• The strategic communication is a planned communication.

Theme-wise categorization of subject and the periodicity
with which the issue populates the media is an important
aspect and needs to be effectively handled.
• Government’s achievements are fact-based but what
necessitated such decisions should be explained for better
understanding of the common man.
• There should be a point person in every Ministry to provide
background briefing thoroughly. For example, People do not
know China much and the difference between McMahon

Here, blacklists and Line and LAC.

whitelists are being
taken to the next level, • Journalists can be colour coded: Green – fence sitters; Black
with an elaborate
system for journalists – against; and White – who support. We should support and
to be ‘colour coded’
based on those who
support the promote favourable journalists.
government, are
‘against’ it and are • Do not under-estimate the role of regional language media.
‘fence sitters’.
Hence, the engagement with big language newspapers
should be planned and we should speak to the senior
editors, bureau chiefs, etc.
• When crisis erupts, be prepared to take a big blow to the
chin. Give out facts quickly so that fiction does not appear.
For example, if it were clarified that 10 Army men went
missing, who came back later, the fiction about their being

20
 caught by Chinese would not have been there. Therefore,
there is a planned communication as well as crisis
communication and we should prepare for both.
• Make use of Government media and digital media. Have
spokespersons specialized in different areas, for example,
world trade, China, environment, etc.

4.4.5 Shri Shekhar Iyer Former political reporter for Hindustan Times

• The relationship between editor and government

encourages adversarial approach adopted by the reporters.
• Some of such reporters are advisors of opposition.
• There is a need to have a system whereby the reporter can
explain the build-up leading to major decisions as to why
The idea that media should such decision was taken. This would lead to reporting based
be a watchdog is being set
aside in favour of
collaboration. on facts and not on adversarial reporting.
• Involving regional editors, reporters, district reporters,
newspaper management and print media in districts;
engaging in dialogue with them to build confidence.

4.4.6 Shri Surya Prakash Former chairman of Prasar Bharati, government broadcaster

Call for government • Pseudo-secularists were marginalised earlier. The problem

to use its “enormous
power” to “control”
the “pseudo- is starting from them. Indian Government has enormous
secularists who are
coming in the way of power to utilise the position to control them.
the BJP’s narrative
• In the last six years, we have not enlarged the list of media
More blurring of the friends by having new allies. We need to introspect this.
party/government
Lakshman rekha in a
government document
• We need party spokespersons and good government
spokespersons. We should train them properly. They can be

21
 Ministers, top bureaucrats or anybody else who is trained
properly and effectively.
• We should create army of specialists who specialise in
different sectors – Domain Experts.
• The party spokespersons or bureaucrats should be trained
to handle media to create counter to the digital media
narrative. We need separate platform particularly to engage
with the literate class. Therefore, social media/digital
platforms should be taken on priority.

4.4.7 Shri Ashok Tandon Former media adviser to Atal Bihari Vajpayee

• For the last six years, the opposition was marginalized. APP
realised and stopped attacking PM. Congress Party realised
and in place of Rahul Gandhi it brought Mr. Manmohan
GoM report lists him as a
‘prominent’ personality Singh, Shri P. Chidambaram, and Smt. Sonia Gandhi. Our
but he appears here as a
political activist, speaking
of ‘our rival camp’.
rival camp is highly active.
• Set up WhatsApp group to provide lines on issues.
• The management of media during election time is superbly
done by the party. Why it is not possible to do so during
non-election time?
• PM has been telling MPs to do media interactions so that
they become lighthouse of information in districts and for
lower level media. MPs should speak at the local level and
regional level. For this coordination between party and
government should be streamlined.

Former media adviser to President Ram Nath Kovind,

4.4.8 Shri Ashok Malik now an OSD in the Ministry of External Affairs

• Do not start another WhatsApp group.

22
Contrarian view on the
• Stop Op-Ed by Ministers, top bureaucrats because it has
utility of flooding oped
pages with government become an epidemic and it is counterproductive, because it
bylines, bravely
expressed. sounds like propaganda and it is not being read.
• Foreign media started commenting against China. Because
they suspect China more. The problem of Indo-China issue
is domestic.
Once again,
independent digital • So called social issues are becoming problems in support
news platforms like
The Wire loom large
as a key problem
the foreign media. Take cues from Print, Wire, etc.
area for the
government Therefore, there is a need to tackle both together.
• Have spokespersons for clusters of Ministries to provide
background information to spin the stories. For example,
outward looking Ministries like MEA, Commerce etc; social
sector Ministries like Health and Family Welfare, Education
etc; Economic clusters: Political narratives like CAA, NRC,
environment, and green energy. These clusters should have
spokespersons who can be anyone, viz., Ministers, Advisors,
Academicians, Bureaucrats and they should be working
24x7.

4.4.9 Shri Shashi Shekhar Vempati Head of Prasar Bharati

• On mass communication, Prasar Bharati has done well by

giving hard data and government has dominated the
electronic media.
• Gap is in terms of influencers in social media and print
media, etc. We need to build ability to engage with foreign
media providing background briefings.

23
 Push for greater • We need to have a global brand to spread our influence,
budget for Prasar
Bharat to help it particularly by commenting on the global issues. We should
emerge as a ‘global
brand’ be more active globally.

4.5 The following were the observations / comments of the

participants in the VC held with prominent personalities organised
from residence of Smt. Smriti Irani on 24.06.2020:

4.5.1 Mr. Anand Ranganathan Pro-BJP TV commentator

Suggestion seems
to be for a • We lack historical narrative like Tipu’s manifesto talked
communication
strategy that about annihilation of Hindus.
polarises society
on religious
grounds • The history books should be more objective.

4.5.24.5.2 Mr. Anant Vijay Author of hagiography on Smriti Irani

• We do not create narrative and only respond to current

narratives.
• PIB is not updated on Left ideology.
• PIB releases need to be improved.

4.5.3 Mr. Sunil Raman Columnist

• We should neither be complacent nor show complacency.

• We have lack of clarity in our approach.
• The text books should be changed to include proper
narratives.
Mukherjee is founder pf
the Bharatiya Jana • The works of Shri Shyama Prasad Mukherjee should be
Sangh, the forerunner to
the BJP digitised.

24
Plea from ‘Op-India’
4.5.4 Ms. Nupur Sharma Editor of pro-BJP propaganda website ‘Op-India’
head for even greater
amount of official • We should promote government’s work more effectively.
support for her
website. • The online portals like Op-India should be promoted.

4.5.5 Mr. Abhijit Majumdar Former Editor of Mail Today, now edits ‘Earshot’

• The Twitter trends usually shadow our narratives.

• We must use Instagram more and less of Google.
• We should have contact with Western media.
• Lot of outside money is spent on OTT platform for diluting
Targeting of ALT the nationalism and denigrating Indian culture.
News, the fake news
busting site which • ALT News propaganda is vicious.
often debunks
government and BJP
propaganda
• We should back the journalists/people supportive to us.
• Positive stories should be promoted.
Calls for more
official support to • Strategic and economic communication should be
Op-India and
“journalists/people strengthened.
supportive to us”
• Wikipedia is trying to re-write history. It has clear bias.
Serious note and action on the same should be taken.
Call to “watch”, i.e.
put under
• Help Op-India and re-tweet Op-India tweets.
surveillance, the
social media • Watch WhatsApp groups of various communities.
output of “various
communities” • Track the articles in the international media and give proper
and timely response.
• Flow of information should be smooth and uninterrupted.
• A new theme “Jo Kaha, Woh Kiya” should be implemented.

4.6 The following were the observations / comments of the

participants in the meeting held with representatives of chambers
of industries / business on 30.06.2020:

We are omitting the pages with the comments of business leaders as they
25
are all focused on COVID-related communication.
 5. 10 Big Initiatives

5.1 India @ 75 (year 2022) Republic @ 75 (year 2025)

5.1.1 Poverty to Prosperity

5.1.2 Political Democracy
5.1.3 Economic Powerhouse
5.1.4 Leader in Global Diplomacy
5.1.5 Cooperative Federalism

As India enters its 75th year as an independent nation, there

is much cause for celebration and pride. India has moved
millions of its people from poverty to prosperity through
concerted action by the Government and the citizens.
India’s democracy has thrived despite myriad factors which
make for a highly heterogeneous and stratified society.
India’s unity in diversity is her pride and object of awe for
the rest of the world and merits celebration on her diamond
No acknowledgement that
the economy has
jubilee. The Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat campaign by the
nosedived and
unemployment has risen, government has taken off with great popular support and is
which is precisely why the
government’s gaining momentum year after year. India has also emerged
communication strategy
has been ineffective. as an economic powerhouse over the years. Its economy is
one of the largest in GDP terms in the world. It is playing a
leading role in all major global fora for economic
development such as the BRICS and the G-20. India has also
secured a membership in the UNSC and is looked upto by
the global South and other nations as a leader in global

31
 affairs and diplomacy. All of this has been made possible by
a partnership between the Centre and the States in the
spirit of cooperative federalism. New initiatives such the
GST, the One Nation One Ration Card, Unifying
Agricultural Markets are all flagship measures taken by the
Government to promote cooperative federalism and would
benefit greatly from a communication thrust.

Messages / Content that could be communicated:

• Instilling national pride amongst various sections, especially
the youth.
• Scaling up the Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat campaign.
• Foster spirit of cooperative federalism amongst Union and
state governments.
• Increase efficacy of delivery of schemes such as One Nation
One Ration card.
• Take India’s foreign policy stance to the people and garner
their support for key decisions.
• Build a "New India", free from the clutches ofcasteism,
communalism, and corruption.

5.2 $5 T Economy - Way ahead

5.2.1 Make in India
5.2.2 Invest in India
5.2.3 Ease of Doing Business
5.2.4 Better Infrastructure
5.2.5 Increased Value Addition and Job Creation

32
 Hon’ble PM Modi has called for a focussed effort to make
India a Five Trillion-dollar economy. He stated that this is
based on the strengths of the Indian economy and requires
a can-do spirit in the society. The communication of this
This is a narrative aimed at
shifting the burden for clarion call by the PM is indispensable for India to achieve
growing the economy on to
the backs of the ordinary this national developmental objective. A slew of schemes
citizens, thus giving the
government a free pass for its and policies have been taken by the Government in this
failures.
direction. These can greatly be enriched by a focused,
targeted and concerted communication architecture guided
by the centre and adapted and innovated upon by the
states. Make In India initiative can be further popularized
by involving the key stakeholders – industry, MSME sector,
entrepreneurs and labour. The Government’s reforms of
land and labour in the country can be better communicated
effectively to increase support base amongst people. Major
infrastructure projects can be communicated to global and
local audiences to highlight the government measures and
achievements in this key sector of the economy. Skill India
Mission, PM MUDRA Yojana and the recently announced
initiatives to make India a manufacturing world leader can
benefit from a communication thrust.

Messages / Content that could be communicated:

• Increased awareness of job opportunities.
• MSMEs and individual entrepreneurs to benefit from
increased credit flow.

33
 • Greater acceptance to policy decisions such as labour
reform in society.
• Complements ground level implementation of schemes
especially in rural areas.
• Greater public participation and support for infrastructure
projects.

5.3 Aatmanirbhar Bharat

5.3.1 “Self-Reliant India” &integration with global economy
5.3.2 “Vocal for Local”
5.3.3 Strong Small Scale Industries (MSMEs)
5.3.4 Revamp of Agriculture Economy
5.3.5 Space Technology – new avenues

The Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan was envisaged by the

Hon’ble Prime Minister as a multi-pronged package to put
India on a growth trajectory propelled by the theme of self-
reliance. The package is comprehensive and seeks to
develop all key areas of Indian economy – agriculture,
manufacturing, MSME, housing, migrant labour, Animal
husbandry, Fisheries etc. Each of these sectors have distinct
target audiences for the promotion of the ensuing schemes
in them. The objective is not just to make India self-reliant
in these sectors but also be a key member in the global
supply chain, rather than an isolationist economy. So the
campaign has both an internal and external focus and the
communication has to be tailored accordingly. The MSME

34
 sector is the prime mover of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat and
requires extensive communication campaigns at individual,
community and national levels. Prolific use of broadcast,
print and social media is envisaged to provide a thrust to
this flagship campaign. Advances in space technology must
be communicated to the common man. Also, “Vocal For
Local” campaign seeks to instill pride in local produce
thereby enhancing aggregate demand for these products.

Messages / Content that could be communicated:

• Pride in local produce, stimulate demand and revitalize the
economy.
• Benefits to the farmers and rural economy with increased
market awareness and digital literacy.
• Greater awareness of credit schemes for local
entrepreneurs, MSMEs.
• Benefits migrant labour through access to affordable
housing, credit and ration.
• Communicate market opportunities for global and domestic
investors.
• Integrate Indian products with global supply chain.
• Take space and other technologies from lab to homes.

5.4 Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas

5.4.1 “PM Garib Kalyan Yojana”
5.4.2 Unity in Diversity and Social Harmony
5.4.3 Inclusivity of Bharat through “Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat”

35
 The Government has focused on inclusive development to
alleviate the concerns of all sections of society and take the
nation together on the path of sustainable development.
Various initiatives like “PM Garib Kalyan Yojana”, “PM
Awas Yojana”, etc. aim to empower the marginalized

It is not clear how the sections and lead to social development of all. The
government was
“instilling a feeling of government is striving to uphold the unity in diversity of
brotherhood” when
its official the country while instilling a feeling of brotherhood among
spokesperson spent
weeks suggesting the
spread of COVID was all the citizens of the country, such as envisaged under Ek
because of the
Tablighi Jamat and, Bharat Shresth Bharat. The common progress of all is the
by extension, of
Muslims. ultimate goal of the government.

Messages / Content that could be communicated:

• Inclusive development: Special focus on those who need
the maximum support like the weaker sections (SC, ST, OBC,
minorities, women & children).
• Affordable housing, food (One Nation, One Ration),
livelihood (Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyaan) for the poor and
migrant workers.
• Skill development: Ensuring that the workforce is ready for
the future and demographic dividend of the country is
adequately utilized.
• Promoting entrepreneurship (Startup India) to make the
youth “job creators” rather than “job seekers”.

36
5.5 Digital India
5.5.1 Digital Inclusion and Bridging Digital Divide
5.5.2 JAM and E-Services
5.5.3 Promoting Digital Content and Application
5.5.4 Effective Digital Connect with people
5.5.5 Digital Literacy and Community Services

The objective of “Digital India” is to ensure digital inclusion

by bridging the digital divide (rural-urban) and improving
the digital infrastructure in the country. The government
aims to transform India into a digitally empowered society
and knowledge economy. Promoting digital content and
application for effective Digital Connect with people &
achieving digital literacy among the population is important
for the growth of the country.

Messages / Content that could be communicated:

• E-governance through Common Service Centres, DBT and
e-Services.
• Provision of e-learning/tele-education & tele-medicine
facilities.
• Participatory democracy through digital means (digital
communication).
• Financial inclusion for inclusive growth leading to the
culture of saving (utilizing the JAM trinity).
• Technological Advancement leading to efficient
Manufacturing, modern Agriculture.

37
5.6 Swachh Bharat Swasth Bharat
5.6.1 Swachh Bharat Mission
5.6.2 Ayushmaan Bharat
5.6.3 AYUSH, YOGA and Fit India - Lifestyle

The complementary goals of hygiene and health have been

an important objective of the government. To improve the
healthcare situation of the country, the initiatives like
Ayushmaan Bharat-PM Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), PM
Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana, etc. have been
successfully launched. Under PMJAY, about 12,54,59,184 E-
Cards have been issued and 1,08,99,888 hospital
admissions have been made till date from the launch of the
scheme. PM Modi has declared that the whole country is
Open Defecation Free (ODF) with complete access to
toilets. The overall awareness around sanitation and
hygiene has immensely improved over the last few years
through the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. On October 2, 2014
only 38.70% of India was ODF and by October 2, 2019, ODF
status of India reached 100%. About 10,28,67,271
household toiletshave been constructed under Swachh
Bharat Abhiyaan (G) and 61,65,413 toilets have been
constructed under Swachh Bharat Ahiyaan (U).

Messages / Content that could be communicated:

• Fitness & well-being of the population – AYUSH, YOGA and
Fit India – Lifestyle.

38
 • Social awareness about hygiene and associated issues – Jan
Andolan.
• Healthy workforce is important for economic development.
• During COVID-19, India has been able to handle the
situation well because of the increased focus on healthcare
by the government.
• Improved accessibility, availability and affordability to
quality healthcare for all.

5.7 Naari Shakti

5.7.1 Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
5.7.2 Women Safety
5.7.3 Projection of women as:
Receivers Decision makers
Care takers Economic contributors
Victims Agents of change
5.7.4 Gender Inclusivity in politics, economy and society
5.7.5 Women as Entrepreneurs, SHGs

Women led development is the clarion call of the

government. The objective is to promote gender inclusivity
in politics, economy and society and encourage women to
take up leadership roles and become entrepreneurs,
people’s representatives, Ministers, sportspersons,
scientists, etc. The projection of women has to be not as
Receivers but Decision makers, not as Caretakers but

39
 Economic contributors and not as Victims but as Agents of
change.

Messages / Content that could be communicated:

• To save the girl child and improve female literacy rates (Beti
Bachao Beti Padhao).
• Encouraging women as entrepreneurs through Stand Up
India, PM MUDRA Yojana.
• Triple Talaq Act to protect the rights of married Muslim
women.
• Women Safety (181 women helpline, NIRBHAYA Fund,
Criminal Law Amendment of 2013, Prevention of Sexual
Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013).
• Protection of Women & children from several respiratory
diseases/ disorders through PM Ujjwala Yojana.

5.8 Skill India

5.8.1 Skilling to be Aspirational
5.8.2 Promoting the idea of Entrepreneurship
5.8.3 Skilling, Re-Skilling and Up-Skilling at all levels
5.8.4 Skill Gap – match demand and supply for Aatmanirbhar
Bharat
5.8.5 Soft Skill for Employment Abroad

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has emphasized the need to

provide India’s youthful manpower with skills and the ability
to tackle global challenges. Given that India will have a

40
 surplus manpower of 4 to 5 crore over the next decade, it is
imperative to harness this demographic dividend. The
National Skill Development Mission, the National Policy for
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015 and the
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana are all steps in this
direction. Skilling, Re-Skilling and Up-Skilling at all levels
form the basis of Skill India. While Short Term Training and
Recognition of Prior Learning are some of the key
components of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana
(PMKVY), Promoting the idea of Entrepreneurship is also
given utmost importance. In order to bridge the huge skill-
gap, the government has been running 40 schemes and
programmes for skill development in the country through
20 ministries and departments. At the same time, it has
been recognised that India can become the world's largest
provider of skilled workforce for the world by providing Soft
Skills for Employment Abroad.

Messages / Content that could be communicated:

• Skill India Mission has led to creation of a vast
infrastructure for skilling, reskilling and upskilling and
enhancing opportunities to access employment locally and
globally. Hundreds of PM Kaushal Kendras have been set
up across India and increased the capacity of the ITI
ecosystem.
• Over 69 lakh youth have been trained in the last four years
under the Skill India programme to boost employment in

41
 the country. The Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship has also trained 69.3 lakh youth under the
flagship PMKVY in the last four years (December 2019).
• Skilling through PMKVY Training Centres (TCs) also benefits
school/college dropouts or unemployed. Apart from
providing training according to the National Skills
Qualification Framework, they impart training in Soft Skills,
Entrepreneurship, Financial and Digital Literacy.
• The evaluation study of PMKVY 2.0 by NSDC indicates that
individuals trained and certified under Short Term Training
(STT) are 1.8 times more likely to get employed and there is
an increase in employment and average monthly income of
skilled youth.
• The recognition of prior learning (RPL) certification has
benefited individuals in terms of increase in self-confidence,
improvement in technical knowledge, soft-skills and
average monthly income.
• More than five crore youth have been skilled in the last five
years.
• The ASEEM portal launched recently for mapping skilled
employees and employers seek to help skilled workers,
including migrant workers who have returned home, to
access jobs easily and the employers to contact skilled
employees at the click of a mouse. The skills of migrant
workers would also help in changing the local economy.

42
5.9 Sustainable Development
5.9.1 Green Energy and Clean Energy
5.9.2 India’s Global Leadership for Climate Justice
5.9.3 Indicators of Sustainable Development
5.9.4 Balancing Policy with Ecological needs and constraints

India is endowed with rich biodiversity having several

species of animals and plants and hosts four of the 35 global
biodiversity hotspots containing several endemic species.
This makes India uniquely aware of the importance of
sustainable development as a core principle of
governance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also reiterated
the pledge to preserve the planet’s rich biodiversity on
World Environment Day earlier this year. He had also
propounded the concept of six Rs for sustainable
development: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover, Redesign
and Remanufacture. Some of the major initiatives in this
direction include Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the launch of
a mass movement against plastic use. Recognising the
cultural and environmental importance of the river Ganga,
the ‘Namami Gange Programme’ was also approved. The
Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act (CAMPA) was also
introduced in pursuing a Green India. Not only has India
consistently balanced policy with ecological needs and
constraints, it has assumed natural leadership in the
international arena, especially for climate justice. It is
among the few countries which have substantial pledges

43
 under the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Similarly, over a hundred nations affirmed their
participation in the International Solar Alliance to dedicate
efforts for promotion of solar energy.

Messages / Content that could be communicated:

• India is focused on Ease of living – through Good
Governance, Sustainable Livelihood and through Cleaner
Environment. For instance, Ganga river projects have
involved people living on the banks and help them attain
sustainable livelihoods.
• About five lakh people are estimated to be employed
through Green Skill Development Programme by 2021.
• CAMPA will increase green cover.
• Recent inauguration of Asia's largest 750 MW solar power
project at Rewa (MP) will provide cheap and clean
electricity.
• India’s focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals put
it on the path of equality, equity and climate justice-
especially for vulnerable populations.

5.10 Projecting India’s Soft Power Globally

5.10.1Spiritual & Cultural outreach
5.10.2YOGA
5.10.3Heritage & Tourism
5.10.4Indian Cinema

44
 As India gravitates towards a global leadership role, it is
vital that the Government of India direct its communication
and outreach to more foreign audiences. India’s greatest
offering to the world, Yoga has already accrued vast gains,
including the United Nations proclaiming 21st June as the
International Day of Yoga. Further, Indian spirituality,
cultural exports like Classical Music and Dance, popularised
through Cultural Centres abroad, have helped define India
as a brand. Soft power enables the country to control the
narrative built around it. This has been further aided by the
promotion of Indian heritage and Tourism, cultural and
student’s exchanges and the use of cinema, such as through
co-production agreements with other countries.

Messages / Content that could be communicated:

• Soft Power, by itself may not achieve Foreign Policy Goals,
but it helps build a favourable perception. In a vibrant
democracy like India, using soft power holds immense
potential to realise national objectives in the global milieu.
• Incoming tourism helps promote local economies.
• Film production activities affect both employment and
investment favourably.
• Exchange of knowledge and resources at individual levels.

45
6. Strategy

6.1 Projecting Aatmanirbhar Bharat / Make In India

6.1.1 Attitudinal change to instil pride in locally manufactured

products – There is a need to promote the spirit of
Aatmanirbhar Bharat and “Vocal for Local”. The local
products need to be suitably branded and effectively
marketed. This will create the “Brand India” image.

6.1.2 Indigenous Innovations – We are instrumental in

innovations worldwide but do not own them. Local talents
need to be recognised, promoted and given a proper
platform to give wide publicity. It will promote the culture
of innovation.

6.1.3 Take Scientific advancements from Lab to Ground – There

are many success stories in the advancements in various
fields which must be taken to people with pride to
showcase India’s capabilities and technological prowess.

6.1.4 Promoting Electronics, Medical Equipment, Space

Technology, etc. – India is in the forefront in Space
technology, manufacturing of electronic goods, medical
equipment, software and IT and nuclear technology. These
need to be highlighted to the people.

46
6.2 Digital and Last Mile Communication

6.2.1 Digital & Physical Exhibition on –

“Makers and Heroes of India” -
“New and Transforming India”
The exhibitions on the above themes shall be prepared by
the concerned Ministries and the actual exhibitions shall be
done by M/o I&B. These will be shown on the various
digital platforms for the wider reach as well as the physical
exhibition will be done in various cities, towns and villages
for the last mile communication. These exhibitions will help
to better showcase and effectively deliver the desired
messages in more popular ways.

6.2.2 Digital Communication – Promote Digital Literacy – India is

a pioneer in digital technology and has achieved extensive
penetration even in the remote areas. The importance and
benefits of digital communication will be highlighted. Digital
literacy must be spread in a big way with the help of youth
volunteers.

6.2.3 Village Level Outreach - volunteers of NSS, NCC, NYK and

party leaders – The village level outreach is an important
component in spreading the information and establishing
direct communication with the public. The various
initiatives and schemes of Government shall be taken to the

47
 people through these volunteers who would take the
messages to all the people.

6.2.4 Direct Communication to Panchayat Pramukh, ASHA,

Anganwadi workers, Teachers, etc. – All the elected
representatives at the Panchayat level as well as the field
level functionaries like ASHA and Anganwadi workers shall
be provided with the information to be shared with the
people. Since they are in direct touch with the public, this
will be very effective.

6.2.5 Common Service Centres – Many people go to these

centres to avail various services. These centres can be
effectively used to convey the desired messages directly to
the people.

6.3 Projecting India Abroad

6.3.1 DDInternational / AIR World – To disseminate the

information on the government’s schemes/initiatives and to
convey its point of view in the right perspective,
theinternational presence of public broadcaster needs to be
increased (on the lines of BBC, Aljazeera). Strong
international presence would also help to project India’s
image abroad and to counter false narratives.

6.3.2 Strengthen Indian Missions w.r.t. media outreach – The

Indian Missions abroad play an important role in

48
 communicating with the foreign governments and the
people of the respective country. The outreach in the other
countries can be made more effective by making media unit
in the Indian Missions more active.

6.3.3 Research Unit – Anew unit needs to be established which

will collate all information subject-wise in proper format for
use as and when required. This unit will provide
consolidated material with past references / precedents to
understand the issue holistically. Accordingly, a proper
response could be prepared by the government.

6.3.4 Use of Films, Cinematic Heritage and Film Festivals – India

is endowed with rich heritage which is vividly reflected in its
films. These are important components of India’s soft
power and can be effectively used for international
outreach.

6.4 Projecting Best Practices

6.4.1 Promoting culture of Sports and Fitness – Individual and

public health as well as fitness has been extensively
promoted by the government. This message needs be
clearly and unambiguously taken to the people, especially
the youths. This will promote “Fit India” campaign and
stress upon the need of both physical and mental fitness.

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 6.4.2 Mainstreaming & promoting Innovative practices –
Hackathons – New ideas need to be promoted and a
platform will be created where all such innovative ideas can
be invited. Problem statements could also be given and the
solutions could be invited. This will not only recognise the
potential talent but also engage with the creative minds.
Some creative ideas could also be incubated and developed.
These could be recognised and given wide publicity.

6.5 Engagement with Institutions

6.5.1 Coordination with schools of journalism – Present students

are the future journalists. As a part of long-term strategy,
the engagement with schools of journalism should be
increased. The officers from PIB can go to take guest
lectures etc. The programme of internship for students of
these schools in the government set up could be organised.
This will ensure that they understand and appreciate the
government’s perspective.

6.5.2 6.5.2
Identify, Nurture and Promote supportive journalists –

Supporting, engaging, There are many journalists with positive outlook who are
promoting journalists
with “positive also supportive of government’s view point. These
outlook” to “create a
pool of journalists” journalists need to be engaged and promoted. This will
who will “appreciate
the stand of the create a pool of journalists who would better understand
government.”
and appreciate the stand of Government. They will not only
give positive stories but also counter the false narratives.

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 6.5.3 Engagement with Media Houses and Academia – These are
the opinion makers and therefore regular engagement is
necessary with media houses and other prominent
personalities to ensure goodwill for Government.
Prominent personalities from academia with domain
knowledge / experts could be roped in to buttress the
government’s stand on various issues.

7. Action Points

7.1 Two major public outreach programme by each Ministry:

Every Ministry should identify two major themes /
initiatives / schemes and organise the public outreach
programmes in a big way. By this initiative, the major
programmes of the respective Ministries will be taken to
the people. This way if 100 outreach programmes are
Plan for year-round
government organised then with one day of pre-event publicity and one
propaganda in the
media day of post-event publicity, for the entire year there will be
coverage of some event throughout the year.

7.2 Direct connect with people -

• Wednesday – Cabinet Briefing
• Thursday – PC / Sammelan at State Level
• Friday – PC / Sammelan by District Presidents
The GoM action
plan which melds • Saturday/Sunday – Jan Sampark by MPs & MLAs
government and
party initiatives is These actions would ensure that decisions and initiatives of
clearly
unconstitutional.
Government reach the ground level. Through this, whole

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 party machinery and elected representatives will remain in
active contact with people. The major decisions of the
government and how these are going to affect them could
be directly communicated to the people. This will also be
beneficial in developing the mutual trust.

7.3 Mass Circulation of Positive stories, Success stories &

Ironically the same Testimonials – There are many good works done by various
government which wants to
exploit the “good works” of organisations and NGOs etc., that are praiseworthy and
NGOs has been making it
more difficult for the NGO reflective of selfless service. In addition, the schemes /
sector to raise funds.
initiatives of Government have benefitted many people
whose life has been positively impacted. Disseminationof
such positive & success stories and testimonials would
showcase how the good works of Government has made
differences in the lives of the people and improved their
living standards.

7.4 Curbing fake news through Fact Check Unit – Fake news
and false narratives create lot of confusion & misconception
As highlighted above, the PIB and theseneeds to be countered. This unit has been
Fact Check unit is quick to
label news which shows the established in PIB and is working in tandem with all
government in poor light as
‘fake news’, even though t is Ministries to counter fake news / false narratives.This way
correct.
the immediate rebuttal of negative stories is possible. The
public needs to be given correct information and made
aware of false news. Correct narratives need to be given
and false narratives should be countered with all the facts
and figures.

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 7.5 Focus on regional media and regional languages – All the
advertisements and outreach programmes should be in the
regional languages for better connect with local people. Not
only the content but the dialect should also be in regional
languages. The regional media should be effectively utilised
to communicate the messages. They should be regularly
provided with all the relevant materials.

7.67.6 Constant tracking of 50 negative influencers – Some

negative influencers give false narratives and discredit the
Government. These need to be constantly tracked so that
The suggestion of proper and timely response can be given.
colour coding
journalists figures in
the action plan as
tracking the ‘negative
influencers’ and
7.77.7 Regular engagement with 50 positive influencers – Few
regularly engaging
‘positive influencers’ influencers in social media who project Government’s work
positively and in right perspective should be encouraged
and provided with requisite information. This will help to
put the Government’s view point in the right perspective.

Astonishing frankness 7.8 Identify persons with ability to give good arguments –
for a government
document to speak of Same fact can be presented with different narratives. So, a
identifying and utilising a
“pool of Spin Doctors’”
who can present “same
pool of Spin Doctors who can do it for the Government
fact with different
narratives” and “do it for should be identified and utilised.
the government”.

7.9 Engaging with Journalists – both working and non-working

– During recent times many journalists have lost their jobs.

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 Among these there are many journalists who are supportive
Action plan envisages
recruiting financially of Government or are neutral. These journalists should be
vulnerable journalists to
help project the identified and engaged in various ministries so that their
government’s image
positively services could be utilised in projecting government’s image
positively.

7.10 Engagement with Foreign Media – International outreach is

an important component in putting Government’s stand
properly in international forum. Regular interaction with
foreign media journalists would help disseminate correct
information and perspective of the Government, especially
on the sensitive issues.

7.11 Miscellaneous

Twitter, Twitter and

more Twitter
• The social media presence of Ministers should be increased.
The workshop can be organised by PIB for the PSs and the
social media handlers of the Ministers.
• Refresher training should be organised for all the PIB
officers attached to the various Ministries (PIOs).
Create a whitelist of • All the authors in different regional languages who are
regional language
authors sympathetic to the government should be listed.
• Workshop for videographers and photographers should be
organised.
• All the Ministries should recruit “Young Professionals” to
In an implicit
admission of how
hard it might be for handle social media.
the government to
hard-sell ‘hard’ • Promote “soft stories” – Yoga, Tiger, etc.
stories, the plan is to
promote “soft
stories”.
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 • Every Ministry should prepare a list of their success stories
and make videos of the same to be disseminated through
various media.
• PIB should collate good positive stories at the district levels.
• An audio bridge with all the spokespersons of the party at a
Action plan once
again blurs party/ fixed time (say, 1:00 PM) should be done so that the party
government line
line could be properly explained to them and all are on the
same page.
• The Press Council of India (PCI) should tie up with their
counterparts in the other countries.
Action plan party/
government • There should be proper government – party coordination of
coordination on social
media management, social media management.
with the taxpayer
footing the bill. • Tours of journalists should be organised focussing on
targeted areas of development.
• An effective system of communication with the NRI
Create a system of
communication so that community should be established and they should be
NRI commentators
counter ‘negative’ supported so that they can also raise their voice against
narrative overseas
negative stories/narratives in the foreign countries.

We are omitting the remaining pages of the document which contain a

detailed chart of ministry-wise allocations of responsibilities for
implementing the action plan.

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