The state government has geared up its machinery to be more vigilant on ‘unfounded and misleading’ news. It has issued a comprehensive circular on Wednesday asking the department heads to adhere to the deadline fixed for issuance of clarifications to print as well the electronic media.
The circular, issued by state chief secretary Sujata Saunik, is based on a review meeting held on January 13 and the directives given in the state cabinet meeting held on February 3 this year. All the secretaries have been asked to accord top priority for taking cognizance and issuing clarifications.
According to the directives, the news clippings which need to be clarified will be compiled by the Directorate General of Information and Public Relations (DGIPR) and forwarded to the departments concerned via its software tool. If it is a news appearing on the news channels an audio visual clip will be shared on the group of departmental secretaries.
The department heads will then seek a clarification from their respective wings and submit it to the DGIPR within 2 hours if it is a news run by the electronic media or within 12 hours if it has appeared in the print media. The ministers or their deputies, secretaries or commissioners of the department concerned will share a byte for the electronic media, says the circular.
Nodal officers will be appointed for all the state departments to coordinate.
The news concerning the Central government schemes/programmes implemented in the state which requires clarification will be forwarded to the Press Information Bureau (PIB).
The state departments have been asked to offer clear cut views about the news items and the circular has detailed out the response time for sorting, dispatching, response by the department and forwarding it to the concerned media.
Besides, the director general of the information and public relations department will submit a status report along with comments and facts to the chief minister and the chief secretary in a given format. The chief secretary will also take a monthly review meeting of the exercise, says the circular. The DGIPR has also been asked to take a follow up for publishing the clarifications.