IIMC has curated a special public relations course for the Defence Ministry officers.
Public relations officers at the Ministry of Defence are set to be sent for a crash course to the country's premier communications college, the Indian Institute of Mass Communication or IIMC.
The first batch of officers will take the short-term course next month. Over the course of one week, they will be trained to handle media queries and "project the right image" of the Defence Forces.
"This short-term module course has been especially designed by IIMC on our request," a senior officer in the Ministry of Defence told NDTV, requesting not to be named.
According to him, as many as 15 public relations officers or PROs, most of them from the services, will undergo the one-week course from October 14-18.
"There are 25 PROs stationed at various stations in the ministry we will ask all to undertake this course," discloses the officer.
The Ministry of Defence took the initiative when it was pointed out to senior officers that though the ministry organises courses for journalists every year about the functioning of defence services, there is no courses to train the officials who handle media.
"After seeking all approvals from our ministry, we asked IIMC to help us out and they curated this short-term course for our men," said another officer from the ministry.
"There are so many platforms where we seek the help of the media and since our officers have very little experience in handling media queries, this course will give our men exposure and help us to project defence ministry in a more humane form," added the officer.