Centre to train state govt officers in using social media

The Centre will handhold state governments in training their officials on using social media for better communication outreach regarding programmes and policies.
At the 28th State Information Ministers Conference (SIMCON), which is being organised after a gap of seven years, a demand was made by some states seeking support from the Centre to help boost their capacity vis-a-vis social media.
"The social media cell of the I&B ministry handles info dissemination online quite professionally. Noting this some of the states sought Centre's support in this regard. The ministry may soon hold workshops and training sessions for state officials with regard to social media," a senior official said.

At the Conference I&B secretary Ajay Mittal emphasised that in the fast evolving media scenario, it was critical to initiate policy changes that forged partnership across sectors to steer the growth of the Media, Entertainment and Communication sector in the country.
Mittal said instant communication across platforms opened up challenges for the Government communication. Policy initiatives needed to be tuned to address the communication needs of different stakeholders in the media space, he said according to an official statement.
The I&B secretary also touched upon the key sectors and issues where changes were in the offing taking into account the future growth roadmap including streamlining the process for Community Radio stations.

Mittal also said that the Film sector was an important area where the role of Government as facilitator was essential. In this context, he mentioned that support from the States in areas such as Facilitation of Film shootings permissions, seamless movement of equipment, permission for shooting at historic sites may be fast tracked to support the industry.
I&B minister M Venkaiah Naidu will be chairing the State Information Ministers Meeting tomorrow. The two day conference is being organised on the theme - Reform, Perform & Transform - A New Dimension of Communication" and is expected to provide a synergy between Centre and States for an effective communication outreach process.