Local

To build a direct interface between the Government and the journalists working at Alipurduar district of West Bengal, Press Information Bureau (PIB) Kolkata, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India organized Media Workshop “Vartalap” at Hotel Dooars Mountain, New Alipurduar in Alipurar District today. The workshop was inaugurated by Shri Manoj Tigga, Member of Parliament. Various welfare schemes meant for the upliftment of Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes and marginalized sections were highlighted in the workshop.

 

Around 60 media-persons of the district including those from small and medium newspapers participated in the workshop.

 

 

Addressing the gathering, Shri Tigga thanked PIB Kolkata for organizing the workshop in the district. He said that journalists are also contributing to the development and progress of the society by acting as a bridge between the government and the public. He asserted that the relation between the government and the media should be an honest one as it is ultimately the public that is to be benefitted from it. He said that media has a role to play in taking the message of development to the people and it should always give the right information as sometimes irresponsible reporting can create a lot of problems. The MP also planted a sapling under "Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam" campaign launched by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. 

 

 

Shri T.V.K.Reddy, Director General (East Zone), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India addressed the media persons saying that Vartalap is a plateform that acts as a bridge between the government communicators and the media. The objective of the workshop is to enlighten the masses through media with regard to welfare measures taken by the Union Government. Shri Reddy urged the journalists to look at the impact of the several Centrally-sponsored schemes run for welfare of the people. The DG also spoke on the role and importance of PIB and CBC and said that journalists should make maximum use of the information provided by the media units of the Central Government as it will help them in seeing the complete picture. 

 

Shri S. N. Choudhary, Addl. DG, Eastern Region highlithed different initiatives taken by the Ministry for welfare of the journalists. The ADG appreciated the schemes highlighted by LMD And NABARD officials meant for upliftment of SMSE in the district. 

 

In his welcome address, Deputy Director (Media and Communication) PIB Kolkata, Shri Arijit Chakraborty who conducted the event, thanked the media persons for their support in organizing the workshop.

 

Shri Rajith Chandran, Dy. Press Registrar gave power point presentation on the role and importance of Press Registrar General of India (PRGI). Shri Chandran also answered different queries from the journalists pertaining to different aspects.

 

With the help of Power Point presentation, it was also explained that how PIB press releases, photos, info graphics and other media contents can be obtained directly from PIB’s website, Facebook page as well as twitter handle in Bangla, apart from Hindi, English and other Indian languages.

 

Shri Joydeep Dasgupta, Multimedia journalist spoke on fake news and discussed various means to bust it. Shri Dasgupta presented an overview of the latest, free online tools and workflows journalists can use to find, visualize, and tell news stories. He also focused on searching for and monitoring news story trends online and visualization tools to improve storytelling. 

 

Smt. Lipika Roy, Lead District Manager, Central Bank of India, Alipurduar and Shri Jayanta Thokdar District Development Manager, NABARD, Alipurduar informed the journalists about the various banking and social welfare schemes started by the Central Government like PMEGP, Stand Up India scheme for Women, Women Led Enterprise Finance for SHG, National Livelihood Mission (NLM), PMJDY, PMAY, PMSBY, PMMY, PMJJY, Kisan Credit Card, Mudra Yojana, Loan for building Cold Storage, Atal Pension Yojana, Senior Citizen Savings Scheme, Sukanya Samridhi Yojana and several loan schemes among others. They also spoke on Potential Link Credit Plan, Micro Finance meant for farmers and artisans, Agriculture Marketing Infrastructure, Kisan Credit Card, Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), SHG training, etc. 

 

In an interactive session held as part of the programme, the journalists shared their concerns and problems faced in their day-to-day functioning. Shri Chakraborty answered different queries from the journalists pertaining to different aspects.

 

Two veteran journalists from Alipurduar district Shri Ramen Dey and Shri Sujit Roy were felicitated by PIB on this occasion to honour their contributions for the improvement of journalism in the district.