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Tremors are being felt in the highest-level Group of Ministers (GoM) on Media and Prime Minister’s media team after Manmohan Singh admitted that the Government could have failed to “manage (public) perceptions”. The efficiency of the Government’s GoM and the PM’s three-member media team, responsible for creating perception among the public through the media, has also come under cloud.
According to Government sources, there is an acute lack of coordination among the three members of the PM’s media team. “Initially, the names of PM’s media adviser Harish Khare and OSD K Muthukumar were finalised for accompanying the Prime Minister to the just-concluded US trip. However, at the last moment, Director Binoy Job got Muthukumar’s name replaced with his,” reliable sources told The Pioneer.
The sources also said Job has been bypassing Khare — who he reports to — and briefing the media directly. “This lack of coordination has created confusion in the PM’s media team and has also affected the media management,” they said.
Even Congress leaders feel that there is a lack of communication between the PMO and the party as far as “putting the correct perspective to the media is concerned”. “The PM’s media team has never come to us in times of crisis or even when there was a need to build Singh’s image,” said a senior Congress leader.
The Government sources suggested that there should also have been machinery in place for coordination between the PM’s media team and the GoM to send the proper perspective over crucial burning controversial issues of the day.
No wonder, when the PM talked about the Government’s failure in managing public perceptions — on board his special aircraft while coming back from the US last Tuesday — he may have in mind the infighting going on in his media team and the inefficiency of the GoM in “managing” the media.
The Government and even the PM were severely criticised in the manner in which the agitations of yoga guru Baba Ramdev and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare were handled in the last two months.
Also, the GoM never briefed the mediapersons over Finance Ministry’s note to the PMO which raised doubts over the role of Home Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G scam, exposing the chinks in the open.
The PM had constituted the seven-member GoM on Media with Chidambaram as its head and senior Ministers as members in the wake of Hazare’s five-day agitation in the first week of May. It was mandated to put forth the Government’s point of view, which was to be seen missing despite fierce attacks from team Anna and the Opposition. Hazare had then sat on a fast to demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for Lokpal Bill.
But the PM does not seem to be pleased with the manner in which the GoM has been functioning. He had initially chosen Chidambaram and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal —one of the seven Ministers on the panel — to negotiate with Team Anna during Hazare’s agitation last month over the Lokpal Bill.
However, when the situation seemed to go out of control, Singh replaced the two with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is not a member of the GoM. Mukherjee was assisted by Law Minister Salman Khurshid in holding talks with Team Anna.
The sources feel these developments seem to have made the Prime Minister to arrive at the conclusion that the Government could have failed to manage public perceptions. “The PM, the Government and the Congress need to make a mid-course correction in media management,” said the Government sources.
According to Government sources, there is an acute lack of coordination among the three members of the PM’s media team. “Initially, the names of PM’s media adviser Harish Khare and OSD K Muthukumar were finalised for accompanying the Prime Minister to the just-concluded US trip. However, at the last moment, Director Binoy Job got Muthukumar’s name replaced with his,” reliable sources told The Pioneer.
The sources also said Job has been bypassing Khare — who he reports to — and briefing the media directly. “This lack of coordination has created confusion in the PM’s media team and has also affected the media management,” they said.
Even Congress leaders feel that there is a lack of communication between the PMO and the party as far as “putting the correct perspective to the media is concerned”. “The PM’s media team has never come to us in times of crisis or even when there was a need to build Singh’s image,” said a senior Congress leader.
The Government sources suggested that there should also have been machinery in place for coordination between the PM’s media team and the GoM to send the proper perspective over crucial burning controversial issues of the day.
No wonder, when the PM talked about the Government’s failure in managing public perceptions — on board his special aircraft while coming back from the US last Tuesday — he may have in mind the infighting going on in his media team and the inefficiency of the GoM in “managing” the media.
The Government and even the PM were severely criticised in the manner in which the agitations of yoga guru Baba Ramdev and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare were handled in the last two months.
Also, the GoM never briefed the mediapersons over Finance Ministry’s note to the PMO which raised doubts over the role of Home Minister P Chidambaram in the 2G scam, exposing the chinks in the open.
The PM had constituted the seven-member GoM on Media with Chidambaram as its head and senior Ministers as members in the wake of Hazare’s five-day agitation in the first week of May. It was mandated to put forth the Government’s point of view, which was to be seen missing despite fierce attacks from team Anna and the Opposition. Hazare had then sat on a fast to demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for Lokpal Bill.
But the PM does not seem to be pleased with the manner in which the GoM has been functioning. He had initially chosen Chidambaram and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal —one of the seven Ministers on the panel — to negotiate with Team Anna during Hazare’s agitation last month over the Lokpal Bill.
However, when the situation seemed to go out of control, Singh replaced the two with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is not a member of the GoM. Mukherjee was assisted by Law Minister Salman Khurshid in holding talks with Team Anna.
The sources feel these developments seem to have made the Prime Minister to arrive at the conclusion that the Government could have failed to manage public perceptions. “The PM, the Government and the Congress need to make a mid-course correction in media management,” said the Government sources.
