Even as the Directorate of Information and Publicity, Dehradun, continued to strengthen its information and publicity wing in the Kumaon Division by investing around Rs 10 lakh and deploying enough manpower in making the Haldwani media centre high-tech and modern, it has not done anything so far to expand its network in the Garhwal region.
Interestingly, such expansion of information wing by the Directorate and Publicity, Dehradun, in the Kumaon Division, has only lent strength to Satpal Maharaj’s charges that the Congress leadership has ignored Garhwal region and its people who are battling hard to pick up the pieces of life after last year’s devastating monsoon.
Satpal Maharaj made such allegations while he was leaving the Congress party to join the BJP recently. However, Yogesh Mishra, Assistant Director, media centre, Haldwani, maintained that the media centre’s job is not only to look after the Nainital district but also to coordinate with all the Information and Publicity departments spread across the Kumaon Division. Besides, it would also work to give maximum exposure to the Government’s popular policies, he added.
But the matter of fact is that now with opening of this media centre here for the past three years in a rented accommodation, the district information office, Nainital, and the said media centre at Halwani are running like two parallel power centres and their role of promoting Government’s popular programmes and policies remains restricted to the Nainital district.
It would be worth to mention here that there are no two information offices in any other district of the Himalayan State, except the Nainital district. State Cabinet Minister and MlA from Haldwani Assembly constituency Indira Hridayesh is reported to be instrumental in securing Rs 10 lakh with necessary staff to make this media centre modern and high tech.
In her remarks she maintained that this Haldwani media centre would be made high-tech with necessary modern facilities. With deployment of necessary manpower, directions have been given to the officials concerned to identify land for construction of office building for this media centre, she added.
However, whereas the State Government has strengthened its publicity networks by opening one media centre each at the secretariat and legislative assembly in the state capital and one in Haldwani, it has not extended such facility to the Garhwal Division.
Running two parallel information offices in Nainital district seems to be nothing but unnecessary burden on public exchequer as people living in tough disaster hit areas of the Himalayan state need development.