Press Information Bureau
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The Press Information Bureau, commonly abbreviated as PIB, is a nodal agency of the
Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Based in National Media Centre, New Delhi, Press Information Bureau disseminates information to print,
electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...
and web media on government plans, policies, programme initiatives and achievements. The head of PIB is also the Official Spokesperson of the Government of India and holds the rank of Principal Director General (Special Secretary equivalent). The post is currently headed by Shri. Satyendra Prakash, IIS (Batch of 1988).


History

The Press Information Bureau was established in June 1919 as a small cell under Home Ministry under the British government. Its main task was to prepare a report on India to be placed before the British Parliament. It was then located in Shimla. The first head of the publicity cell was Dr. L.F. Rushbrook Williams of Allahabad University who was designated as Officer on Special Duty. Prof. Williams had earlier worked with Sir Stanley Reed on the Central Publicity Board. In 1941, J. Natrajan became the first Indian to be head the Bureau as Principal Information Officer. The organisation's name was changed to the Press Information Bureau in 1946. The Bureau has been reconstituted many times since independence of India in 1947.


Structure and Functioning of Press Information Bureau

Administratively, the Press Information Bureau is one of the media units working under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India. It is the nodal agency for public communication and media relations for the entire Union Government of India (though some organizations have their own outfits to look after their specialized media and publicity functions, e.g. Ministry of External Affairs and the armed forces). With headquarters in New Delhi, it now has a nation-wide network of 8 regional offices and 34 branch offices. Over 60 information officers are presently in position in the Bureau. The Bureau has Information Officers attached to different Ministries, constitutional bodies and autonomous organizations of the Government of India. They are responsible for information dissemination and unpaid publicity for those organizations. The Bureau issues press releases, features, photographs, infographics and videos for giving information to electronic, print and web media on the following matters: * Government Planning * Government Policies * Programme Initiatives * Achievements of the Government The Bureau has a Press Facilitation unit for press accreditation and facilitation during press conferences and events that are open for the media. At present, about 2500 editors, correspondents, camerapersons and technicians from print, radio, television and web media are accredite

Its website contains archives of press releases issued by it since 1947. It has also launched the mobile version of its
website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...
and a mobile app. In November 2019, the PIB set up a fact-checking unit to check government related news.


List of Heads/Government Spokespersons


See also

* Ministry of Information and Broadcasting *
Prasar Bharati Prasar Bharati (abbreviated as PB; Hindi: ''Praśar Bharati'', lit. Indian Broadcaster) is India's State media, state-owned public broadcaster, headquartered in New Delhi. It is a Statutory corporation, statutory autonomous body set up by an A ...


References


External links

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History of PIB
{{authority control Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India) Mass media in India News agencies based in India 1919 establishments in India Government agencies of India