About PIB
PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
The Press Information Bureau (PIB) is the nodal agency of the Government of India to disseminate information to the print and electronic media on government policies, programmes, initiatives and achievements. It functions as an interface between the Government and the media and also serves to provide feedback to the Government on people’s reaction as reflected in the media.
PIB disseminates information through different modes of communication viz. press releases, press notes, feature articles, backgrounders, photographs, database available on Bureau’s website. Information disseminated is released in English, Hindi and Urdu and subsequently translated in other Indian languages to reach out to about 8,400 newspapers and media organizations in different parts of country.
In addition PIB organizes Press Conferences, Press Briefing, Interviews of the Minister’s /Secretary’s and other senior officers for sensitizing media persons on important policy initiatives of the Government. The Bureau also conducts Press Tours to successful project sites to enable media to have first hand account of developmental activities going on in the country.
ORGANISATIONAL SET-UP
PIB has its Headquarters in New Delhi. It is headed by the Principal Director General (Media & Communication) who is assisted by a Director General and eight Additional Director Generals at Headquarters. Besides, the Bureau has Departmental Publicity Officers varying in ranks from Directors to Assistant Directors and Media & Communication Officers who are attached with different Ministries in order of the Officer’s rank and Ministry’s size, importance and sensitivity.
PIB also runs a Control Room (News Room) at Headquarters to ensure dissemination of information after normal working hours on weekdays from 6.00 pm to 9.00 pm and from 3.00 pm to 9.00 pm on weekends and holidays.
PIB has eight Regional Offices headed by Additional Director Generals and 34 Branch Offices and Information Centers to cater to information needs of regional press and other media. In addition to release of publicity material issued from the Headquarters in local language, these Regional and Branch Offices of PIB issue original press releases, press notes, backgrounders etc. whenever an important event is organized by any of the Central Ministries or Public Sector Undertakings in a particular region. These Offices also take up the decisions of the Central Government which may be of special importance to a particular region for focused publicity through information dissemination on sustained basis.
Activities of PIB can be broadly classified in three Categories viz.:
Information , Education & Communication (PUBLICITY)
Feedback
Accreditation & Special Services
IEC (PUBLICITY)
Departmental Publicity Officers (DPOs) have been attached to various Ministries and Departments for disseminating information to the media through press releases, press notes, backgrounders etc. and also by arranging press conferences, press tours, media briefings etc., These Officers have been consistently providing the requisite service to their respective Ministries and have been also meeting the information needs of media in respect of those Ministries. DPOs also advise their respective Ministries on all matters pertaining to information needs of media and Ministries’ publicity requirements.
Beside the routine publicity work, the Bureau makes some special endeavours towards publicity like Editors Conference on Social and Infrastructure Issues, Economic Editors’ Conference (EEC) PICs and Press Tours.
PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGNS (PICS)Public Information Campaigns(PICs) are organized as information camps in collaboration with DAVP, DFP, S&DD etc. to provide information to common people on various schemes of the Central Govt. The strategy of a PIC is to combine information dissemination with the delivery of services at the doorsteps for the beneficiaries particularly in rural areas. It envisages direct contact with the ‘Aam Aadmi’ and seeks to empower citizen particularly from rural areas with knowledge of various welfare schemes of Central Govt. under the flagship programmes.
PRESS TOURS
Successful projects, under various schemes of the Central Govt. in remote and backward regions of the country are identified and national and local media are taken on tours to visit these projects to get first hand account of the efforts of the individuals, organizations and Government agencies and report the same in media
FEEDBACK, FEATURE AND PHOTO SERVICES
Bureau’s officers attached to various Ministry/Departments also provide feedback to their respective Ministries and Departments. As part of the Special Services, the Feedback Cell in PIB prepares Daily Digests and Special Digests based on news stories and editorials from National as well as Regional dailies and periodicals for the use by Ministries. The Feature Unit of the Bureau issues backgrounders, updates, info-nuggets, features and graphics, which were also sent to the Regional/Branch offices for translation and circulation to the local media.
ACCREDITATION AND OTHER SERVICES
The PIB provides accreditation to media representatives including foreign media at the Headquarters. This facilitates them to access information from the Government sources. The number of media persons accredited is 1618 correspondents and 476 cameramen/photographers . Besides, 152 technicians and 84 editors and media critics have also been granted accreditation. The Bureau has adopted a fully online system of accreditation from the year 2009.