| NEW
DELHI: Minister of state for information & broadcasting and external affairs
Anand Sharma has exhorted the media to work to build public confidence at a time
when the country is facing different kinds of crises. He
said that it was unfortunate that news channels tended to chase small stories
and ignored the major developments taking place in the country. Very little space
was being given to developmental news in the print or electronic media, he said,
adding that there was need for a positive outlook. The
media should for themselves see the changes brought about in the past few years
and publicise government programmes aimed at empowering the common man. He referred
in this regard to programmes like the Mid Day Meal Scheme which was the largest
in the world benefiting 150 million children. The
Minister was speaking at a function earlier this week where he released the Ministry's
calendar for 2009 brought out by the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity
(DAVP). The calendar is on the various programmes launched under the Bharat Nirman
programme of the government. Each month of the year represents a flagship programme
of the Central Government such as National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA),
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Sampooran Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY),
Swaranjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), Indira Awas Yojana etc. Speaking
on the occasion, MIB secretary Sushma Singh also called upon the media to convert
the new challenges into opportunities for the benefit of the people. She said
the DAVP rates had been increased by 24 per cent to benefit small and medium newspapers.
Others
who spoke on the occasion included DAVP director-general S K Rao and deputy director
general Ira Joshi. | 
