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EDUCATION AND CULTURE
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DIRECTORATE OF PUBLICITY
Regional Publicity Officer.
One of the four Regional Publicity Officers of the Directorate of
Publicity, Maharashtra, is stationed at Poona. The Jurisdiction of
the Regional Publicity Officer, Poona, Comprises the districts of
Ahmadnagar, Sholapur, Poona, Satara, Sangli and Kolhapur.
The Regional Publicity Officer acts as a link between the Government Officers and the Press in the districts. He keeps himself in touch with the Officers of various departments in the districts and issues to the Press news items, write-ups, etc., disseminating factual information on schemes and activities of the Government in the region. He also arranges Press visits and Press conferences to provide an opportunity to the Press to get first-hand knowledge of the subjects to be covered- The reports and comments in the Press are carefully examined by him and misrepresentation against the Government is counteracted with the minimum delay. He also replies to the queries in the Press which seek information on subjects of general or public interest. He arranges to get talks on various nation-building subjects by Government Officers and others broadcast from All-India Radio, Bombay and Poona. In short, he attends to the publicity needs of all Government departments in his region.
The Regional Publicity officer acts as a correspondent of the Directorate of Publicity, Maharashtra, and covers Government schemes and activities, ministerial tours, Press conferences, etc. He
keeps the Director Of Publicity, Maharashtra State, Bombay, acquainted with trends in the local Press and public opinion. He helps the Film Section of the Directorate of Publicity in producing documentaries, news-reels, etc., on subjects pertaining to the region.
DISTRICT PUBLICITY OFFICER.
As in every district of the State, a mobile publicity van is stationed
at Satara in charge of District Publicity Officer. The van is equipped
with a 16 mm. projector and it moves throughout the district. Free
film shows and talks are arranged on various nation-building subjects, including agriculture, cattle improvement, village industries, education, prohibition, untouchability, small savings, Five-Year Plan, etc. The films for exhibition are mostly produced by the Directorate of Publicity, while some of them are borrowed from the Films Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India or other film producing agencies. The films are both instructive and entertaining. The District Publicity Officer also delivers talks explaining Government policies and programmes and keeps the rural folk informed of the concessions and facilities offered to them through the various national development schemes.
Exhibitions of the visual aid publicity material such as posters, pamphlets, leaflets, photographs, etc., which is produced by the Directorate of Publicity and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, are also organised by the District Publicity Officer on the occasions of agricultural shows, religious fairs and cattle exhibitions in rural areas. Recreational programmes such as powadas, bhajans, etc., based on the nation-building subjects are also arranged in the rural areas.
The All-India Radio stations of Poona, Nagpur and Bombay broadcast special programmes' daily in Marathi for the rural listeners. To enable rural folk to listen to these programmes, the Government of Maharashtra has installed community receiving sets in the villages of the district.
DISTRICT INFORMATION CENTRE.
A District Information Centre under this office has been started at
Satara and is equipped with all visual aid publicity material, periodicals and photographs. It acquaints the general public with the
various schemes sponsored by the Government.
The Regional Publicity Officer, Poona, supervises the work of the District Publicity Office and the working of rural radio sets.
PUBLIC SUB-COMMITTEE OF DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT BOARD.
The District Publicity Officer is under the administrative control of the Director of Publicity. The Collector of the district and the Publicity Sub-Committee of District Development Board also assist and advise him in his work. Some of the members of the Publicity Sub-Committee including its chairman, who is the Vice-chairman of the District Development Board, accompany the van and deliver talks in the villages on nation-building subjects.
The District Publicity Officer also organises the district journalists' tours in and outside the district to enable them to see the progress of the various development activities in rural areas and the project developments in the Community Blocks.
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