Some days, you can catch Frank Noronha, principal Director General of the Press Information Bureau tweeting about a government event or announcement at 5.30 am. The chief spokesperson for the Union Government seems to have no closing hours either, often tweeting late into the night. Ditto for his department - the PIB handle appears to be active 24/7.

The 98-year-old department, which acts as the link between the government and the media, is changing dramatically. Not too long ago, old-time journalists recall, the PIB would be off duty by 9 pm.

But with successive governments, both at the Centre and the State, seeking greater visibility, the PIB has had to go on a communication overdrive doling out information non-stop on plans, policies and programmes. The government’s official mouthpiece is now on Twitter, Facebook and even, believe it or not, on Instagram furiously posting pictures of ministers and events.

PIB, which started out as a tiny cell towards the end of 1920, became the Central Bureau of Information. Though it has been keeping up with the times, with eight offices and 34 branch offices, it finds it tough to keep pace with the growing workload.

Not only has there been a steady increase of ministries/departments as well as State governments to service, there are also 400-odd news channels and any number of print media/online news portals to cater to. This is not counting social media, which too needs to be addressed. Especially overworked is the Prime Minister’s unit, which sets out at 4 am for work and has to collate social media as well as news and give feedback by 8 am.

Not surprising then that the government has started involving private public relations companies and roping in consultants, particularly to manage some of the duties, especially events.

There are two aspects of governments’ media handling: paid work taken care of by the Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity (DAVP), which undertakes multi-media advertising and publicity for various Ministries and Departments; and the non-paid tasks that are handled by the PIB, which comes under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

It’s the latter where private agencies such as Adfactors and Fortuna PR are increasingly being given responsibilities – from handling investor summits conducted by various State Governments to even the day-to-day briefings, occasionally, of certain central departments.

According to image guru Dilip Cherian, a communications consultant and political campaign advisor, there are three reasons why private entities are being hired. First, he says, PIB has been for years now seen as routine communicator, which is not enough today. Second, there is growing pressure within the governments to communicate more, and third, growing demand for digital communication.

The concept of involving PR firms has been a steady trend, says Cherian, adding that today the ministers themselves are actively communicating through social media – twitter, blogging and such – so dissemination of information is more instant now.

The use of private PR agencies is more for tackling social media, where they also assess feedback and note the traction. Also, with various ministers now participating in Google Hangouts and Facebook Live conferences, the activity is too much for a small band of officers to handle.

PIB has just 28 senior officials catering to almost 100 government departments and entities.

“There are new platforms such as Instagram and SnapChat that millennials trust more than conventional social media channels. And it helps to bring in outside consultants who understand this audience and are able to help our government communicate with them effectively,” says Ishan Russell, Managing Partner at The Image People, who has worked on digital campaigns with ministries and political parties.

Ask the private agencies working with the government whether there is any interference, and they say the mandate given is very clear – right from creating the campaign to organising the event, to handling the media. And of course, the projects are assigned only after proper tendering processes as the stakes are high.

But, while the private agencies lighten a certain load, PIB has the onerous responsibility of crisis management, and has to be quick with responses to counter negative publicity. In this day and age of fastest finger first, a PIB official also needs to give constant feedback to his or her ministry, come out with quick responses, and prepare narratives where needed. For the drum beaters, the rhythm of communication is changing.

The Bureau’s beginnings

There are some dos and don’ts that PIB has to follow when putting out official information. These date back to colonial times - 1935, to be precise, when the Director of Information in the India office, AH Joyce, laid down guiding principles on what material could be shared with the Indian Press. Nothing of communal nature, exclusion of controversial or political material and to “rigorously” exclude “puffs for government activities”. And just imagine, the Bureau even negotiated an undertaking that it would not engage in “personal publicity for the members of the Viceroy’s Executive Council”! The main principles of its working were laid down during World War II. After Independence, it was also charged with interpreting the policies and activities of the Government.

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