OFF THE RECORD review on some todays headlines….
1. IS CM winding up DGIPR? Times of India
Where does this news come from? Just on 3rd of April, the CM had inaugurated a studio built by the DGIPR, the concept being the brainchild of the DG, IPS Brijesh Singh. The DG was lauded for his efforts. So i’m a bit confused here. Today in The Times of India’s “public eye” column read about (In marathi newspapers read 2 days ago) how CM has asked GAD to hunt for a PR team which would make sure all the news/information is passed to the last person of the state, which the DGIPR is failing with time & again, again as reported. Readers, just rattle your brains for a minute. Since the new Government has assumed office in 2014, the newly sworn in Ministers had always & always left DGIPR in a lurch. As per norms, every Minister has to be appointed with a DLO by the department which was done then. But the Ministers of the BJP-SS snubbed every one of these “hardworking” government babus to hire crisp & EXPENSIVE PR agencies from outside. So the DLO’s and the DGIPR were already in a way insulted, and on the second hand the new agencies did not know how things function at Mantralaya. Plus the fees these new agencies got was at least 3 times the average payout of these DLO’s. The appointment of new agencies led to confusion even for timings of press conferences for more than a year. Secondly, Mantralaya is home ground for many journalists who have monthly or bi-monthly publications. These agencies treat only dailies & that too only English media & some channel walas with respect. Rest don’t even exists for them… If you all recollect a lot of journalists of Mantralaya were upset for quite long time with otherwise media friendly CM Fadnavis. PRO cum OSD Ravikiran Deshmukh also faced the ire. What I feel, DGIPR is a link to the last journalist of this state. They know them all. Winding off this department will surely wipe out a lot of journalists, who are actually small but effective. The gap between the government & media will widen with new people coming on board. But I will play a devils advocate here…At the same time, CM is not to be blamed for everything. DGIPR officials (DLO’s) MUST MUST & MUST come off age and accept new media and ways of handling them. They need to upgrade themselves first, technologically. It is a true fact that since 2.5 years the department is not its best. But what to do CM? You have a appointed a Nagpurian person as the DG who is already in middle of handling 3 other additional responsibilities. How will he perform?
2. Narayan Rane in or out of BJP–perfect analysis by Dharmendra Jore. Click the link below–Also just to add–Narayan Rane’s entry in BJP is only barred by one & only one for obvious reasons–CM Devendra Fadnavis. The link of Mid-day article is below
Mumbai English ePaper: Mumbai E-paper, English News ePaper – Midday http://epaper2.mid-day.com/epaper/17-apr-2017-252-edition-Mumbai-Page-1.html#.WPRQHQ0WWf8.twitter
3. Eknath Khadse hosts Oppn in Muktainagar
What’s wrong with The Time of India? I never knew for space-filing two stories with similar context will be used in a span of 3 days. Anyways, on the 16th of April the political editor did a story on How Khadse hosted opposition a Muktainagar during Sangharsh Yatra. Apparently today also Public Eye saw the same news. My take-Can’t leaders of the other patties be “friendly” with their opposition? Why to blow the matter out of proportion? Eknath Khadse is a King-man in Jalgaon. He is big, we cannot take away that fact from him, even today. If state level leaders, ex-cm visit his constituency; it is manners & a kind of ritual to host them. Where was this political editor when Nitin Gadkari attended Narayan Rane’s birthday celebrations? FYI, this political editor was a regular at Eknath khadse’s bunglow for breaking news every day when Khadse was leader of opposition. Changing times!
Vikrant Joshi
www.vikrantjoshi.com
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