New Delhi: In the backdrop of adverse media
over the last few months, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has
set up a seven-member Group of Ministers to project the
government`s point of view effectively on various events on
daily basis.
The Group, headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram,
includes Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, I and B Minister
Ambika Soni, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, Parliamentary Affairs
Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, Water Resources Minister Salman
Khursheed and MoS in PMO V Narayanasamy.
"The Group of Ministers will meet every day at a fixed
hour, analyse the events of the day and issue suitable
directions to the nodal officer to prepare appropriate
material for briefing the media," an order issued by the
Cabinet Secretariat said.
One of the ministers of the group or in certain cases,
the minister concerned with the matter, if he is not a member
of the group, will brief the media every day, it said.
Along with the oral briefing, a written brief will also
be released, the order said.
The GoM will be serviced by the Ministry of Information
and Broadcasting which will ensure that agenda papers or
minutes of the meeting are expeditiously forwarded to the
Prime Minister`s Office and the Cabinet Secretariat, it said.
The decision comes in the backdrop of adverse media
faced by the government in the last few months on various
issues, particularly corruption and the Anna Hazare-led
agitation by the civil society activists.
There has been a feeling in the government that its
point of view had not been effectively projected on various
measures it has been taking.
PTI
