Programmes aimed at raising awareness about various activities of the Ministry of External Affairs are embedded into the day to day projection of activities of the Ministry.
The web portal www.mea.gov.in acts as an interface with the public. The website is available in Hindi, English, Spanish & Arabic. The total number of hits on this website from September 2012 till date is approximately 2.9 crores. The Mobile App MEA India, was the first mobile app launched by any Government of India organization. It acts as a single digital platform for all the people centric activities of the Ministry and has more than 1.2 lakh downloads.
The Ministry has a sizeable social media presence with fan following on almost all the major social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Google+, Sound-cloud etc. The combined following of all these social media accounts is more than 1 million and is increasing. These social media channels act as useful medium for creating awareness about Ministrys activities.
A bi-monthly magazine India Perspectives is published in 14 languages and is circulated worldwide through Indian Missions abroad. This magazine is also available on all digital platforms and can be read on all mobile devices.
A booklet Fast Track Diplomacy which covered the diplomatic journey of the new Government in first few months was published. Also a series of brochures entitled - Indian Diplomacy at Work are published regularly in several foreign languages, covering various aspects of Ministrys functioning and details about Indias diplomatic outreach.
A weekly FM radio program India Global was launched in collaboration with All India Radio on 26 January 2014. In this country specific program, Ambassadors of India speak about important aspects of Indias relations with the world.
Distinguished Lecture Series events are regularly conducted to promote a greater understanding of India's position on key foreign policy issues, where senior retired Ambassadors deliver lectures in various universities across India, thereby reaching out to the youth. In the current financial year 29 such Lectures have been organised.
Visits by foreign journalists from ASEAN, Small Island Developing States, Africa and Latin America were organised in 2014.
India Is Programme was launched in 2011 by the Ministry, allowing people world over to send in videos and photographs that spoke about their personal idea and experience of India. 'India Is' initiative highlights the soft-power of the country which allows one to gauge the influence of a country's culture on people in countries abroad. Over the last three years a total number of 1200 video entries and more than 5000 photographs were received from all over the world.
India Africa - A Shared Future; a unique people to people campaign was launched by the Ministry with the aim of engaging multiple stakeholders in India and Africa through contests, fellowships, discussions, events, collaborative projects and cultural exchanges.
In addition Indian Missions Abroad regularly conduct outreach programmes like exhibitions, road shows, seminars, conferences etc. to showcase Ministrys activities as well as educate foreign audiences about India.
The expenditure for these outreach activities is met from the budget allocated to External Publicity and Public Diplomacy Division of Ministry of External Affairs. The budgetary allocation for the last three years is as follows:
There is a well-developed mechanism in place to receive feedback about outreach activities through daily website and social medial analytics and daily monitoring of Press & Media. The objective of these campaigns is to reach out to the audience not only globally but also locally. One of the main focuses of these campaigns is to reach out to the youth in India and abroad. The benefit of these programmes and campaigns is to build a positive narrative about strengths of India as a nation and projection of its soft power.
This Information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs Gen. (Retd.) Dr. V. K. Singh in Lok Sabha today.
YSK/ Uma
The web portal www.mea.gov.in acts as an interface with the public. The website is available in Hindi, English, Spanish & Arabic. The total number of hits on this website from September 2012 till date is approximately 2.9 crores. The Mobile App MEA India, was the first mobile app launched by any Government of India organization. It acts as a single digital platform for all the people centric activities of the Ministry and has more than 1.2 lakh downloads.
The Ministry has a sizeable social media presence with fan following on almost all the major social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, Google+, Sound-cloud etc. The combined following of all these social media accounts is more than 1 million and is increasing. These social media channels act as useful medium for creating awareness about Ministrys activities.
A bi-monthly magazine India Perspectives is published in 14 languages and is circulated worldwide through Indian Missions abroad. This magazine is also available on all digital platforms and can be read on all mobile devices.
A booklet Fast Track Diplomacy which covered the diplomatic journey of the new Government in first few months was published. Also a series of brochures entitled - Indian Diplomacy at Work are published regularly in several foreign languages, covering various aspects of Ministrys functioning and details about Indias diplomatic outreach.
A weekly FM radio program India Global was launched in collaboration with All India Radio on 26 January 2014. In this country specific program, Ambassadors of India speak about important aspects of Indias relations with the world.
Distinguished Lecture Series events are regularly conducted to promote a greater understanding of India's position on key foreign policy issues, where senior retired Ambassadors deliver lectures in various universities across India, thereby reaching out to the youth. In the current financial year 29 such Lectures have been organised.
Visits by foreign journalists from ASEAN, Small Island Developing States, Africa and Latin America were organised in 2014.
India Is Programme was launched in 2011 by the Ministry, allowing people world over to send in videos and photographs that spoke about their personal idea and experience of India. 'India Is' initiative highlights the soft-power of the country which allows one to gauge the influence of a country's culture on people in countries abroad. Over the last three years a total number of 1200 video entries and more than 5000 photographs were received from all over the world.
India Africa - A Shared Future; a unique people to people campaign was launched by the Ministry with the aim of engaging multiple stakeholders in India and Africa through contests, fellowships, discussions, events, collaborative projects and cultural exchanges.
In addition Indian Missions Abroad regularly conduct outreach programmes like exhibitions, road shows, seminars, conferences etc. to showcase Ministrys activities as well as educate foreign audiences about India.
The expenditure for these outreach activities is met from the budget allocated to External Publicity and Public Diplomacy Division of Ministry of External Affairs. The budgetary allocation for the last three years is as follows:
| Sl. No. | Financial Year | Budget (In Rs.) |
| 1 | 2011-12 | 35.60 Crore |
| 2 | 2012-13 | 30.41 Crore |
| 3 | 2013-14 | 28.10 Crore |
There is a well-developed mechanism in place to receive feedback about outreach activities through daily website and social medial analytics and daily monitoring of Press & Media. The objective of these campaigns is to reach out to the audience not only globally but also locally. One of the main focuses of these campaigns is to reach out to the youth in India and abroad. The benefit of these programmes and campaigns is to build a positive narrative about strengths of India as a nation and projection of its soft power.
This Information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs Gen. (Retd.) Dr. V. K. Singh in Lok Sabha today.
YSK/ Uma
