With a view to facilitate transparency in news items and advertisements, especially paid political advertisements, a committee under the name, The MCMC Committee has been formed. This committee has been entrusted with the task of monitoring all political advertisements that appear on various print and electronic media apart from FM Channels.
A day long training workshop for all the members and other officials of the committee was held at Moti Mahal today to give inputs about various aspects related to monitoring the media activities of candidates and their aides.
Briefing the members and other staff of the committee, S Maurya, the Additional Director of the Department of Public Relations, said that all activities related to general elections are of paramount importance and asked the participants to take their designated duties seriously.
Addressing the senior members, he said that while some are aware of their expected duties, there are people who have joined recently and that it is imperative that they ,too, are well informed and trained about the procedures.
Speaking about the paid political news and advertisings, Maurya said that in order to have fair elections, it is important to monitor the various advertisements and political contents that appear on different media, including social media. He further asked them to monitor all media very closely on a daily basis and report any irregularities, which would be forwarded to the Election Commissioner for further action.
The Additional Director also said that a monitoring cell, too, has been formed in the office of the Public Relations Department which will function round the clock. Media In- charge, NK Gulati, too, spoke on the occasion and gave inputs about ways to monitor and regulate the print and electronic media.