New Delhi, March 1: Senior Indian Information Service (IIS) Officer Rajesh Malhotra on Wednesday assumed charge as the principal director general of the Press Information Bureau (PIB), a release said.

Malhotra took over from Satyendra Prakash, took charge as the principal DG of PIB in August 2022. An Indian Information Service (IIS) Officer of the 1989 batch, Malhotra had been working in the Union ministry of Finance since January 2018. Centre Invites Comment on Draft Amendment To Remove Content Flagged by PIB As False or Misleading.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, he effectively steered the media and communication policy in the ministry of Finance in sync with the various AatmaNirbhar Bharat Packages announced by the Centre over time to bring some respite to the people amid lockdowns and also ensure that the impact of Covid on the national economy was kept at a minimum, the release said.

Malhotra has over 32 years of operational experience in planning and implementation of Media & Communication strategies for various Central government ministries and departments, including Finance, Company Affairs, Agriculture, Power, Coal, Mines, Communications & IT, Textiles, Labour, and New and Renewable Energy.

He was also associated with the Election Commission as in-charge of media & communication for 21 years (1996-2017), thereby planning and implementing media and communication strategies during the six General Elections to the Lok Sabha, along with several State Assembly Polls and elections for the President and Vice-President, conducted by the Election Commission. During this tenure, Malhotra worked closely with 12 chief election commissioners, the release stated. Modi Government Cracks Down on Six YouTube Channels for 'Spreading Fake News', Check Names Here.

Malhotra holds a postgraduate diploma in Business Management from IMT, Ghaziabad, and a postgraduate diploma in Media Laws from NALSAR, Hyderabad. Further, he has also been a part of the short-term course on Public Policy Analysis from the University of California, Media Management & Strategies at Thomson Foundation, UK and the Programme on 'Marketing: The Winning Concepts & Practices' organised by IIM Lucknow at New Delhi. He is also a fellow member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India and also holds a degree in Law.

As a spokesperson, Malhotra has the experience of successfully establishing 'Two-way' communication channels between the government, on one hand, and the media, on the other.

"He has been successfully managing crisis situations during his varied assignments in different Ministries in his distinguished career and has ensured that only the correct perspective/ information is disseminated to the media. He also has wide experience in coordinating media coverage for International Conferences/ events as he has been an integral part of various Ministerial Delegations from India during his career," the release stated.

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