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| Information Department at 'beck and call' of Union ministries? | | Farooq gets publicity of Manila visit for his ministry | | Early Times Report
Jammu, June 23: J&K government's Information Department is at beck and call of all in the heirarchy of coalition government,giving them wide publicity, invariably unwarranted and uncalled for. For the events they cover with cabinet ministers and their juniors are at times too insignificant to give gala coverage.As if this tendency was not enough, the Department has been toned up, rather has become subservient for coverage of even Union ministers belonging to two alliance partners, all thanks to the high ranked officials of the Department who are doing this job quite 'obediently'.
There have been instances galore to substantiate this, whether it is the Union Health Ministry or even the ministers of state at Centre, who all in the name of coalition patronage enjoy this 'privilege' of wide political or apolitical coverage by the ever 'predisposed' Information Department.
Latest to enjoy this privilge is the Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr.Farooq Abdullah, who is currently visiting Manila to attend a function organised by the Asian Development Bank.Dr Abdullah has apparently roped in Information Department of J&K govt, headed by his own son Omar Abdullah, for the purpose of running a publicity campaign of his ministry.
On Wednesday the state Information department released a press release along with two pictures of Dr Abdullah addressing and attending the Asia Clean Enegery Forum at Manila without specifying the dates.
Strangely, official machinery of Dr Abdullah’s ministry has failed to live up to the expectations of their boss and it is for this reason the task of circulating press statement of a union Minister for New and Renewable Ministry has been entrusted to the state Inforamtion department, which has got no stakes at all in the ongoing conference beyond brief reference by the senior Abdullah in his address.It was not confirmed whether anyone from the state Information department accompanied DrAbdullah on his official visit or someone sitting in his Delhi office has been entrusted with the job of providing notes to the state Information department to draft the press release.
According to the official handout released by the state Information department, with a dateline of June 23 from New Delhi, Dr Abdullah while delivering the key note address called upon Asian Development Bank (ADB) and other multilateral agencies to considerably step up their support to renewable energy projects in developing countries.
In his speech Dr. Abdullah said that India stands among the top five countries of the world in terms of renewable energy capacity with an installed base of over 15 GW, which is around 9 per cent of India’s total power generation capacity. He highlighted the role of the renewable energy in promoting inclusive growth and explained the various projects initiated by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in providing energy access to remote and hill communities of Gurez in Jammu & Kashmir and the forested regions of Madhya Pradesh.
Dr. Abdullah also spoke of India’s flagship programme. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission and called up the ADB to step up its engagement both in the public and private spheres. He also emphasized the need for easier transfer of technology in the field of renewable energy and welcomed the initiative of the ADB in setting up a technology transfer exchange to examine the issue.
Earlier, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, called on President of the Asian development Bank (ADB) Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda. In the meeting that took place on the sidelines of the Forum, the two dignitaries discussed various issues related to renewable energy. Dr. Abdullah urged the President to support demonstration projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission and requested him for creating a guarantee facility for banks for stepping up lending to grid connected solar power projects. He also sought the support of ADB for setting up large solar parks in the country under the national solar mission. President Kuroda informed that India is an important destination for investments. He also informed the Minister that under the Tashkent initiative, which was attended by the Indian Finance Minister, the ADB would look at supporting a number of initiatives in clean energy in India. He also informed the Minister of the 'Energy-for-all' initiative of the ADB which focuses on scaling up access to reliable and modern energy services for the poor.
As for the speech of the Union Minister, there are certain points of information, some of them relevant to the schemes of the J&K. But the moot point remains whether the Union cabinet ministers or others, particularly belonging to Congress are entitled to the coverage particularly when the vents are held out of state or abroad. |
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