While seeking intervention of the PMO to stem the rot, the Association has explained how the hitherto held official transfer and postings policy including those of spouses in the same or different services or government and PSUs at the same station has been unsettled by the autocratic Ministry of I & B.

Recent spate of transfers involve displacements of senior officials on the verge of retirements within a span of less than two months and less than one year to remote places with unfamiliarity of local languages placing undue disadvantages to the government in communicating its welfare programmes and policies to the people thus disturbing the existing institutional efficacy and morale. It appears the NDA Government is out to destroy institutional suzerainty and morale of all the public institutions, one after the other, in fascistic arbitrary manner, unthought-of so far. It must be stressed media communications skill is a difficult and challenging tasks where communicator has to perform most difficult job with pleasure.

This comes on the heels of two ongoing developments in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting having transferred large number of information service personnel from AIR (News) and DD (News) thus indicating ultimate divesting of Prasar Bharati news services of Indian Information Service (IIS) and filling them with RSS oriented outsourced news personnel and other wholesale transfers including arbitrarily autocratic allocation of publicity portfolio to departmental publicity officials in the Press Information Bureau (PIB), hitherto managed by PIB head and on the other hand, disturbing balancing of specialized twin stream media services of print journalism and broadcast journalism. So far, the practice was to let IIS personnel enrich their experiences and develop right expertise for dissemination of information with attendant professional competence and panache in the two main streams.

Decline of IIS is further exemplified in the context of a recent tweet by Principal Director General (Media & Communication), Frank Noronha, which reads: “on behalf team PIB and on my behalf, heartfelt gratitude to Hon’ble I.&B Minister@smritiirani for her thoughtful and generous gesture. Her guidance, leadership and support is a source of inspiration for@PIB_India. Thank you madam” Noronha being on top of the IIS ladder and on the pinnacle of his service has not only prostrated but crawled before the Minister. He has shown poor leadership. In the process, he has disgraced the IIS by playing sycophant to the semi-literate Minister Irani. Media heads like him cannot guide down the line, much less motivate and inspire confidence, so much for professional competence and prowess of today’s breed of IIS personnel. Hence, decline of the service.

One cannot help but rue the present plight of information service personnel. Information service has seen the days of glory and self-esteem when stalwarts like G.C. Mirchandani (founder of IIS the then Director (News) AIR), Pratap Kapoor, K.G. Ramakrishnan, K.S. Ramanathan had unhindered and direct access to Prime Minister, who even won’t bother about Ministers much less Secretaries, for whom there were special standing arrangements in Prime Minister’s Office (then known as Secretariat), Cabinet Secretariat and Ministry of Home Affairs for writing Special Notes for Cabinet where PM had direct interests. Secretaries used to dread and envy them. For instance, in 1978, when on information from Joint Director, Intelligence Bureau, Mumbai, that Jay Prakash Narayan was declared dead in Jaslok Hospital, Parliament in Session was adjourned, then DNS the Director News Services, Inder Pratap Tewary did not allow that information, announced by Prime Minister Morarjee Desai in the Lok Sabha, to be broadcast on the basis of information from his correspondent at Mumbai that the Lok Nayak was still alive. He held the ground sticking his neck on the gallows. Joint Director Intelligence Bureau was dismissed summarily.

Such was the professional prowess that they enjoyed with aplomb. IIS as an integrated service cadre has now lost its sheen. Only façade is there. For all practicality, information service is finished. Days are not far off when its obituary could be written!