Army to set up nodal agency for media relations

The Indian army is in the process of setting up an additional director general of public information (ADGPI), a nodal agency that will serve as the focal point for information from the army besides other agencies like the press Information Bureau, Army Liaison Cell, Media Centres and Mobile Press Release Units.

The additional director general of public information has already been introduced in the Northern Command and it will soon be introduced in other parts of the country as well, said Brigadier R S Sujlana, Army Liaison Cell, army headquarters.

Brigadier Sujlana said this on Tuesday while delivering a lecture on Army media policy as part of a two-day workshop on defence hosted by the Golden Katar division of the army at Chiloda near Gandhinagar.

Brigadier Sujlana said while maximum transparency will continue to remain the guiding principle of the army's media policy, there are certain things that cannot come into public domain right away.

"In the larger interest of the country, we have to follow a fixed format, where certain facts have to be shared and others cannot be shared immediately," he said.

He, however, said it has been the endeavour of the army to provide basic information on any incident or development as soon as possible.

The army official said apart from general publicity, the ADGPI will also be involved in operational publicity, which will be jointly done with agencies like the ministry of external affairs.

Another function that the ADGPI has been doing is attempting to improve the quality of films made on the army, with the aim of making them more realistic.

Besides, the nodal agency will also be responsible for maintaining the army website, which, according to Sujlana, is being revamped in a big way.

Stating that the essence of the army's media policy is credibility, Brigadier Sujlana said the intention is always to provide the right perspective during both combat and non-combat times.