The Shimla Chapter of Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) and Department of Information and Public Relations, Himachal Pradesh jointly organised a conference to mark the National Public Relations Day, here today. The theme of the conference was “Building trust: Shaping-up the world with Public Relations”.
Presiding over the conference, Director, Information and Public Relations Harbans Singh Brascon said that trust is the most vital ingredient of human life in which dialogue and communication play decisive roles. He said that PR professionals should strive hard to win the trust of the people to achieve the desired targets by adopting various tools of the media.
He said that PR professionals should work in a planned manner to publicize the welfare policies and programmes of the government so that the maximum people could benefit out of them. They should work with a difference with convincing approach, good ideals and decent conduct so that masses could trust them.
Harbans Singh Brascon said that with the technical advancement, besides traditional media, today we have access to social media which has emerged as a powerful tool to reach out to the public in an effective manner. The PR professionals should equip themselves with the latest tools to publicise government policies and programmes up to the grass-root level.
He said it is a matter of pride that Himachal Pradesh has emerged as a role model for other states of the country and the state is the best performer in various parameters. This has been possible due to the consistent efforts of the government and active support of the people of the state.
In his keynote address, Prof. Shashikant, Member, HP Private Educational Institution Regulatory Commission emphasized that PR and Media professionals should work with an objective to bring forth the truth without any fear or pressure. He said it is most imperative that trust is maintained to take the society further on the path of prosperity and development.
Citing the example of the Corona pandemic, Prof. Shashikant said that it was due to the trust built up by Prime Minister Narendera Modi that the people of the country successfully fought the battle against the pandemic. He said that India not only launched the biggest vaccination drive but also supplied the indigenous vaccine to other countries as well. Similarly, it is due to trust earned by him that the people of the country are convinced with various policies and programmes of the Government of India and today we are poised to become ‘Vishwa Guru’.
He urged the PR and Media professionals to create mass awareness about various major social issues besides publicing policies and programmes of the government to benefit the society as a whole.
Earlier, Chairman of the Shimla Chapter of PRSI Pradeep Kanwar while welcoming the participants said that every year, Public Relations and communication professionals across the country celebrate April 21st as National PR Day under the umbrella of Public Relations Society of India to re-dedicate themselves for professional Public Relations.
He said Public Relations is an important medium to express one’s views and ideas and connect with people by making use of different mediums of communication. He said in the present times, the role of Public Relations has gone up immensely and therefore it is necessary that PR professionals work with more dedication and responsibility to deliver the goods.
He also read out the message of the National President of the PRSI Ajit Pathak on the National Public Relations Day.
An interactive session was also held during the conference in which the PRSI members and students of the Journalism and Mass Communication department of HP University participated actively.
Secretary, Shimla Chapter of PRSI Ranveer Verma proposed the vote of thanks. He said that the PRSI was established in 1958 to promote and strengthen Public Relations as a profession by taking-up professional development programmes. He said that more activities would be planned this year for the Media and PR professionals during this year.
Member, National Council of PRSI Yadvender Chauhan, Head of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Prof. Vikas Dogra, Prof. Ajay Kumar, other members and senior officers of the Information and Public Relations department also attended the conference.
