NDA govt plans low-key celebrations on first anniversary

NEW DELHI: Keen to appear understated, Modi government is preparing for toned down celebrations for its first anniversary. Instead of a publicity blitzkrieg with private agencies et al, government departments have been asked to prepare at least three success stories 400-600 words each for citizen-centric portrayal, an e-book on their respective initiatives supplemented by talkathons and limited interactions by ministers.
The Modi government will complete a year in office on May 26 and work has begun in full swing. The information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry is tasked with rolling out the campaign through public broadcaster Doordarshan, AIR and its field units like Directorate of Field Publicity, Song & Drama Division, Photo Division among others.
"We wanted to present a citizen-centric approach to government initiatives. PM Modi’s foreign policy, new initiatives like the Jan Dhan Yojana, Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, will be highlighted through individual stories,’’ Bimal Julka, I&B secretary said.
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In a meeting with the cabinet secretary Ajit Seth on Wednesday government departments have been asked to provide details of beneficiaries with names and other details along with an outline of how their life has been impacted after the implementation of the scheme. The testimonials will be part of a campaign rolled out on social and traditional media.
Departments have also been asked to prepare an e-book of achievements along the lines of the compilation done for the 100-day celebration. ``There are talkathons on the anvil with key ministries from infrastructure, social and economic sector,’’ Julka said.
The focus will be to showcase how government policies are pro-poor and pro-farmer with an eye on employment generation. The tagline ``sabka saath, sabka vikas’’ is likely to be underlined in all communication with emphasis on crafting a people-centric approach rather than a one-way communication that has been the norm so far.
The ministry has already prepared a compendium of 110 achievements of the government in the last year. While DD and AIR have already been asked to prepare programmes to highlight the schemes, short videos will also be uploaded on social networking sites like twitter and youtube.