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EDUCATION AND CULTURE
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DIRECTORATE OF PUBLICITY
Directorate of Publicity.- The Directorate of Publicity, Maharashtra State, has four regional publicity offices, one of which is situated in Nagpur. The jurisdiction of the Regional Publicity Officer, Nagpur, extends over the Vidarbha region including the Buldhana district. The District Publicity Officer is in charge of the district publicity office.
Regional Publicity Officer.- The Regional Publicity Officer acts as the link between the Government offices and press. He is the correspondent of the Director of Publicity, Maharashtra State, and has to give due publicity to various schemes of the Government. He also helps the film section of Directorate of Publicity in producing the documentaries and news-reels, on subjects relating to the Vidarbha region.
District Publicity Officer.- The District Publicity Officer, Buldhana, works under the supervision of the Regional Publicity Officer. He keeps himself in touch with the various offices in the district and issues press notes, write-ups, etc., disseminating factual information on schemes and activities of the Government. He also arranges press conferences to provide the opportunity to the press to get first-hand knowledge of the subjects to be covered. He arranges talks on various nation-building subjects by Government officers, and keeps the Regional Publicity Officer in touch with trends in local press. In short, he carries out publicity needs of all the Government departments in the district.
District Information Centre.- The District Information Centre forms an important part of the District Publicity Office. It is provided with the various Government publications, news-papers, magazines, charts, models, etc., with a view to enlighten the public on the aims and objectives and achievements of Five-Year Plans. The centre is provided with a radio set.
Since the formation of the Zilla Parishad, mobile publicity vans along with the cine equipment have been transferred to the Zilla Parishad. Free film shows and talks are arranged on various subjects, including agriculture, cattle improvement, village and cottage industries, prohibition, untouchability, small savings, etc. These films are produced by the Directorate of Publicity while some are borrowed from the Films Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.
The District Publicity Officer visits information community centres working under the control of the Zilla Parishad and tenders technical guidance on the various aspects of running the Information Centres and emphasises the need for disseminating information on national and local activities.
Rural Broadcasting.- To enable the listeners, residing in rural areas to listen to the special programmes broadcasted daily from AIR, Nagpur Station, the Government has installed the community receiving sets in some of the villages of the district. Under the contributory scheme of community listening, a village desirous to have a radio set, is required to pay Rs. 175 as installation contribution. These radio sets are installed in public places, such as village chawadi, village panchayat office, village library, etc. Till the year 1969, villages numbering about 720 in the Buldhana district were provided with radio sets under the above mentioned scheme.
The installation and maintenance work of the radio sets is carried out by Rural Broadcasting Units located at Buldhana, Khamgaon and Mehkar. Supervisors are placed in charge of units at Buldhana and Khamgaon while a senior Radio Mechanic looks after the Mehkar unit of Rural Broadcasting. These units are provided with the requisite testing equipment to carry out the repair work of the radio sets. A departmental motor vehicle is stationed at each unit for transportation of radio sets, allied accessories, and staff to and from the villages in connection with the installation and maintenance of radio sets.
The community receivers installed in the villages are specially designed for the purpose and majority of these receivers are regularly maintained and used batteries are replaced by new ones. The response to rural broadcasting scheme in the district is satisfactory. [The entire scheme of Rural Broadcasting is curtailed as an economy measure since March 1 976.]
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