ICA Minister Sushanta Chowdhury asked the Information and Cultural Affairs department to be proactive and take initiative on their own to cover events and disseminate information. He was addressing a review meeting of the department on Tuesday.
The meeting started with a PowerPoint presentation where the function and parameters were briefed by the department’s Director Ratan Biswas. ICA Minister Sushanta Chowdhury in the meeting said, ICA department is the eyes and ears of the government. He ordered the ICOs to always stay informed so as to disseminate the message of the state government through different media and ordered the district officers to keep ground level report about what is happening around. The minister advised the ICA officers to keep close contact with different offices and ground level follow ups. Panchayat Samitis etc. He said, we have to analyse our work. We have to work like a collective team, like a family.
Secretary of ICA department P.K Goyal in the meeting emphasized carrying a network whenever there are programmes and make a report on what is happening even if it a short report. He also advised to contact DMs and SDMs through which the officials will be able to know about where and what plan is being implemented. ICA Minister in the meeting assured to take necessary steps to improve infrastructure of the department specially in sub-divisions. He advised ICOs, district officers to coordinate with line departments and attend meetings to collect information regarding development activities. He said, do not fix any target as salary is not given on the basis of target completed, instead work efficiently and with commitment. He emphasized on more Covid vaccination and distribution news to be reported and for cultural events to be conducted on local levels. He also advised to bring up innovative ways which will benefit the work and the society as a responsible officer.
ICA Minister said, we want exchange of activities. Every district should know what is happening in their sub division. He advised to create official accounts of ICOs so that they can directly upload on social media instantly soon after any programme is over making it convenient for everyone to know what is happening where. We need to improve the functioning of the department and it has to be done at the grass root level. The matter of improving infrastructure upto the district offices and setting up Culture Hub at the cost of 200 crore rupees was discussed in the meeting. He said, constructive message should be sent out by Culture wing of the department. Culture wing is equally important as it plays an important role in bringing positivity among people and in cultural enrichment of the state.
ICA Minister also said, many people do not know about Tring festival of the tribals. It should be celebrated by the department. The Bengalis need to know about tribal festivals and culture and vice versa. He advised to conduct culture fests, gala and film festivals for cultural exchange between north-eastern states and neighbouring countries like Bangladesh.
He strictly ordered the district officers to cross verify the new list collected from every sub-division for press jackets and to ensure that no genuine media personnel or house is left out. He also emphasized on bringing demographical, socio-economical, uncommon development stories to be published. He lauded Home Minister Amit Shah and the state government’s effort for Bru settlement and advised ICOs to cover more stories on rehabilitation and labour reports. He said, it is all about management and we all have to be sincere with our works regardless of any political views or background. He said local culture and rural cultures need to be rejuvenated and highlighted. He emphasized on Lok Ranjan Sakhas (LRS) to be made functional again. Presently there are 371 LRS across the state, if all the LRS would be active, it would be huge lift up for the state culturally.
Director of ICA department in the meeting briefed about the ongoing works of the department and said, redrafting is going on of Tripura Journalist Welfare scheme. Other ongoing works like Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, celebration plans of 50th year of Tripura Statehood Day, journalist accreditation, upgradation of group-C and group-D folk artiste, statehood day awards, 40th Agartala book fair 2020 etc were also discussed in the meeting. He said, proposal will be sent to SIPARD for conducting workshops with media persons. Training for ground level reporters was also discussed in the meeting.
