DIPR sets new dimensions fighting corona pandemic

Jaipur, 1 June. In the ongoing fight with coronavirus, all departments of Government of Rajasthan played their important role. The main corona warriors were Doctors, Paramedical Staff, Police, District Administration, Revenue Officers, Teachers, Sanitation Staff, Media Personnel and newspaper hawkers, NGOs and philanthropists. When people of entire State were sitting at home, scared of coronavirus disease (COVID), these corona warriors were busy treating people (doctors and paramedical staff), maintaining law and order (police), making people abide by the lockdown guidelines and facilitate people by addressing their problems (administrative personnel, teachers, revenue officers and others), maintaining cleanliness (sanitation staff), delivering news through newspapers and electronic media and distributing newspapers (media personnel and hawkers), helping people stuck due to lockdown by providing food and water (NGOs) and helping the society by providing food, sanitizers, masks etc.(philanthropists). In the government departments, Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) was silently playing its role and was keeping people of the State and media informed about all development of the State Government including the announcements and decisions through various forms. 

According to DIPR Minister Dr Raghu Sharma, the department was quite alert and was giving every piece of government information to the people through press releases, publishing advertisements in newspapers, on social media and on electronic media through scripts on television channels and jingles on FM radios. 

The department also arranged 11 Video Conferences (VCs) of Chief Minister Shri Ashok Gehlot with media and also arranged his interviews with national and regional media including print and electronic. Media veterans believe that 11 daily VCs with media is perhaps only of its kind historic initiative with no parallel in the past. 

After the first case of corona positive was reported in Jaipur on March 2 this year, the DIPR immediately sprang to action to make people aware about this pandemic. Till now more than 50 advertisements have been published in newspapers starting from March 5. The decisions taken by Shri Gehlot were published so that the people get to know about them and get benefited by taking advantage of the various schemes announced during the period of lockdown, informed DIPR Commissioner and Special Secretary Shri Mahendra Soni. 

People were made aware about COVID through advertisements starting from March 5. It is to be mentioned that Rajasthan was the first State to announce lockdown in the entire country from March 22 and since then advertisements were published in newspapers to inform people about day to day decisions taken by Shri Gehlot. 

Some of the major decisions and announcements include chemists, provision/grocery and vegetables and fruits shops that sell essential commodities will remain open during lockdown; distribution of free wheat to National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries; distribution of free packets of food items to daily wagers, street vendors and other needy people who do not come under the ambit of NFSA; food for all as no poor should sleep hungry; one-time assistance of Rs 2500 to 33 lakh needy people; important helpline numbers at the state level and district level for assistance to people during the corona pandemic; payment of outstanding pension up to March to more than 78 lakh social security pensioners including the precise communication of vital information during the entire period of lockdown 1.0 to 4.0.

As per the Commissioner and Special Secretary, the department substantially enhanced the activities on social media and was continuously updating its website, facebook, twitter and instagram accounts with latest information, decisions and announcements that helped the general public and media. As the result the followers on twitter touched the mark of 2 lakh. The timely decisions taken by the alert and farsighted Chief Minister Shri Ashok Gehlot were praised by one and all in the State as well as in the country, he added.