BMC prohibits staff from addressing media to counter fake information

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued a circular that only the civic chief and additional municipal commissioner will be authorised to speak to the media henceforth.

In a circular issued on Monday, Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Chahal has instructed all other officers and staffers not to speak to the media.

Only the municipal commissioner and concerned additional municipal commissioners will be the "competent authority" and they will be authorised to speak to the media, the circular said.

Other officers and employees below the additional municipal commissioner rank are not authorised to speak to the media," it stated.

The circular was issued after it was found that the department heads often shared information, including policy matters, with the media without the municipal commissioner's order, it said.

Contradictory information was getting disseminated most of the time, which affected the civic body's image among the public, the circular said.