Modi govt officials attend session on boosting image, perception as country ravaged by COVID, oxygen shortage

At a time when country is reeling under sharp spike in COVID cases, deaths and oxygen shortage, about 300 top govt officials participated in a workshop focused at creating positive image of govt

Modi govt officials attend session on boosting image, perception as country ravaged by COVID, oxygen shortage
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NH Web Desk

Amid sharp spike in COVID cases and death and heart-rending cries for oxygen across India, Around 300 top officials of Modi government participated in a workshop titled Effective Communications. The workshop was conducted by Abhishek Singh, the CEO of MyGov, and was focused at creating a positive image of the government, manage perception through effectively highlighting positive stories and achievements, and making the government be "seen to be sensitive, bold, quick, responsive, hard-working" etc , as a presentation during the workshop underlined, Hindustan Times (HT) reported.

At a time when Delhi High Court, Allahabad High Court, Madras High Court and Supreme Court have been passing stern instructions and remarks about the ongoing oxygen crisis in the country and news reports of patients dying at the door steps of the hospitals across the country are pouring in the national and international media, the workshop attended by the senior government officials centred around how to use photos and videos to project and amplify positive image of the government.

Information & Broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar also spoke to the participant in the workshop, which ran for 90 minutes.

According to the report in HT, the meeting, attended by several secretaries of the government, saw the minister stressing on the need to focus on positive news.

Whereas much of the presentation as seen by Hindustan Times dealt with examples related to Covid-19, one slide also gave the example of how MyGov and the government sent out the right message about the farm laws.

According to one officer who spoke on condition of anonymity, the attendees were told that the traditional means of communication via PIB press releases no longer worked. They were told to instead post photographs and videos that gained more impressions.

As a case in point, Singh’s presentation dealt with the story that was widely reported on Monday about the Delhi high court asking the government why oxygen concentrators that had been received as aid from foreign countries were lying at airports. To illustrate their point, they showed how in response to a TV channel’s tweet showing the concentrators, the government and department of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs responded with the factual position, reported HT.


“In today’s times, anything critical needs to be noted in minutes. If we wait for some news to break on TV or Print, we will lose the narrative then and there. Your role is important as you have access to the minister/ ministry and timely inputs can help ensure that the narrative is positive,’’ it added.

A second officer who attended the meeting and also spoke on condition of anonymity said they were asked to find influencers who would tweet about getting the vaccine and look for interesting persons to connect with on sites such as LinkedIn. The presentation noted that the theme vaccine registration was the top social media hashtag some time back, with 70% engagement and mentions being neutral, 20% being negative and only 5% being positive. This, they were told, was an opportunity for the government officers to reach out to. “Some of the key themes they encouraged people to highlight were data about recoveries and amplifying any kind of positive stories that each department could get,’’ he said.

The presentation also highlighted the best and worst ways of engaging on social media platforms , pointing out that speed of response, use of infographics, and clear messaging were the key.

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