Govt wants media to know development schemes

Srinagar, Nov 24: Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India organized a one day Media Workshop – Vartalap at Media Complex Srinagar Saturday.
The workshop was aimed at sensitizing journalists about various centrally sponsored schemes and their vital role to create awareness among the masses.
The program was inaugurated by Director Information, Tariq Ahmad Zargar and was attended by a large number of eminent media persons from Srinagar and Budgam districts along with other officials.
Tariq Ahmad Zargar in his address said that it is essential for media-persons to know about different government schemes in detail so that proper information can reach to the people at ground level. He said different departments should have training programs for capacity building so that the information about welfare initiatives is effectively communicated to the masses.
Zargar said statistics need to be collected to assess the implementation of different schemes at ground level and flaws need to be brought to the notice of concerned authorities by the media.
Deputy Director, Press Information Bureau Srinagar, Ghulam Abbas said the aim of organising the program is to highlight the role of media to bring awareness among people about different government sponsored schemes and initiatives. He suggested that scheme implementation, analysis and results should also be reported properly to determine the actual outcome at ground level.
Laying stress on healthy criticism of government departments by media, he maintained that it is essential for social development.
A number of experts delivered talks during the day long programme. In his session, Editor in Chief, Ziraat Times, Arjimand Hussain Talib spoke about the importance of Agricultural Journalism in the state and the need to create public opinion keeping in view the bigger transformation from subsistence to commercial sector.
Senior Journalist, Tariq Bhat spoke about the convergence of media in the contemporary world and the way it can drive development at the grassroots.
Bureau Chief, Pioneer, Khurshid Wani spoke about the role and contribution of print media in holistic development of rural areas.
RTI Activist, Raja Muzafar Bhat pointed out how RTI Act can be used as a tool to highlight the status of implementation of various government sponsored schemes.
Bureau Chief, News18 Urdu, Manoj Koul underlined the role and responsibility of Electronic media in covering people centric initiatives including Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan.
Syed Nazneen Qadri from JKEDI emphasized on the need to provide ample coverage to various entrepreneurship initiatives offered by the government for the youth of the state.