Strengthening of PR need of the hour: Harish Rao

Hyderabad: Minister for Irrigation and Legislative Affairs T Harish Rao underlined the need to strengthen public relations on the lines of IT&C for effectively disseminating information on government schemes.

Addressing the First Telangana State Public Relations Conference on ‘Bangaru Telangana: Public Relations Communication Perspective’ conducted by the Public Relations Society of India’s Hyderabad chapter here on Sunday, the Minister said Importance of public relations had increased manifold now. “As there is a profound transformation in the media landscape and given the impact of IT&C in the recent past, PR must be strengthened. We will strengthen the PR setup as we have strengthened the IT&C department,” he said.

He called upon public relations officers to acquire comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of the departments or areas they work in and update their technological skills to be active on the social media. "The government has launched as many as 26 welfare schemes by spending Rs 36,000 crore in an unprecedented way. PROs have a responsible role in the reconstruction of Telangana,” he said. The Minister favoured the idea of establishing a PR set-up at the constituency level by spending a tiny portion of the amount being allocated for welfare projects so that information is disseminated effectively. He assured that he would take up 36 recommendations made by PRSI to strengthen Telangana’s PR system with the Chief Minister.

The Minister gave away prizes to the winners of various competitions held to mark the occasion. The awardees include officers from the Police department, Hyderabad Central University, South Central Railway, NTPC and Singareni Collieries. The Police department bagged three prizes which includes a first prize for department video on smart policing and a special prize for the police monthly house journal Suraksha. Additional DGP Anjani Kumar received the prize from the Minister. Dr KV Ramana Chary, Advisor to the Government on Media Affairs, who presided over the inaugural session, called upon PROs to improve their skills and potential keeping the speed of technology. He also said that PROs were important in soliciting feedback and making evaluation of any scheme or project.

Former Director of I&PR and Editor of Public Relations Voice CV Narasimha Reddy said the flow of information was very much needed for the successful implementation of project aimed at transforming the State into Bangaru Telangana. He explained the need for effective PR and communication to strengthen any democratic set-up and elaborated the PRSI’s constant efforts in this regard. Terming the struggle to achieve the separate State of Telangana as ‘a communication wonder’, senior journalist Katta Sekhar Reddy said, “The breadth and width of PR job has changed in a big way and multitasking is the key now.

The I&PR department should catch up with the technological advancements in the field.” Chairing the first session of the conference, senior journalist K Ramachandra Murthy asked the government to take every care to ensure transparency while taking up irrigation projects.

Advisor to the Government on Irrigation R Vidyasagar Rao explained the projects being taken up to supply water to every household in the State.

AV Ramakrishna Rao, General Manager, Andhra Bank, entertained the audience with his witty remarks on lack of public relations in Facebook era. “Intra personal and inter personal relations are important to do purposeful public relations,” he added.

Telangana State Press Academy head Allam Narayana called upon PROs and media persons to understand ‘Telangananess (Telangana tanam)’ in the process of achieving Golden Telangana. He observed that information vehicles were not up to the mark though the separate statehood was achieved through a protracted struggle. Justice B Sudarshan Reddy, Information Commissioner Navin Mittaland senior journalist K Srinivas Reddy graced the valedictory session.

PRSI president Dr J Chennaiah, Secretary P Mohan Rao and national vice president Y Baoji (south) and Majumdar (east) and delegates from various States took part in the conference.