NEW DELHI: The role of Indian Information Service officers extends well beyond communicating government policies and programmes, with accuracy, credibility and compassion essential to building trust between governance and citizens, Secretary of Information and Broadcasting Chanchal Kumar said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the valedictory function and graduation ceremony for Group A Officer Trainees of the Indian Information Service, Kumar said public communication is an integral part of governance and must evolve alongside changing technologies and platforms.
The ceremony marked a milestone for the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), which conferred postgraduate degrees on IIS Officer Trainees for the first time after becoming a Deemed to be University.
Officer Trainees from the 2009, 2023 and 2024 batches were awarded the MA in Public Communication & Governance after completing the prescribed academic and professional requirements.
The new postgraduate programme strengthens the academic component of IIS professional training by bringing together public communication, media and governance.
Kumar said emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, are transforming communication while also creating new challenges through misinformation, deepfakes and synthetically generated content. He stressed the need for officers to remain abreast of these developments and continuously upgrade their skills.
He also emphasised that government communication should be a two-way process rather than merely the transmission of information. Feedback from citizens, he said, should help improve policies as well as their implementation.
While speed is important in public communication, Kumar said accuracy and credibility cannot be compromised because every communication carries the authority of the institution.
He urged IIS officers to stay connected with the field and be prepared to understand and take up wider aspects of governance when entrusted with responsibilities beyond communication.
At the centre of that responsibility, he said, should be the citizen. Officers should continually assess whether their work is helping people, particularly the poorest sections of society, and should be willing to rethink and replan when it does not.
Kumar also called for a compassionate approach to understanding people’s concerns and working towards addressing them.
IIMC links communication with understanding
IIMC Vice-Chancellor Pragya Paliwal Gaur said the officer trainees were the first recipients of the postgraduate degree, reflecting the institute’s expanding academic role and its close relationship with professional communication training.
She said communication is about creating understanding rather than simply transmitting information, and urged the officer trainees to approach their responsibilities with clarity, objectivity and sensitivity.
The MA degree, she added, also underlines the importance of continued learning in a field that is constantly evolving.
The ceremony was attended by Additional Secretary Prabhat, Joint Secretary KK Nirala, Director General, Training L. Madhu Nag, senior officials of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, faculty members and IIS officer trainees.
