India 2018

Mass Communication 433
PIB has also expanded its presence on social media, both in terms of
engagement, followers and the number of platforms in a big way, despite
extremely limited resources.
Twitter: On Twitter, PIB’s handle, @PIB_India has nearly doubled its number
of followers in the last one year, from 3.7 lakhs to nearly 1.3 million.
New Platforms: PIB has also expanded its presence to three more platforms:
Facebook, Instagram and Vine. On Facebook, within a year, PIB has attracted
a reach of more than 1.7 lakh followers on an average. Attractive news
pictures are uploaded on PIB’s Instagram gallery, www.instagram.com/
pibindia, while the Vine platform is used for looping short news videos. PIB
has also launched a blog – pibindia.wordpress.com – where soft stories and
feature-like articles on Government programmes and policies are posted. On
YouTube, in the last one year, PIB’s YouTube Channel, www.youtube.com/
pibindia has doubled the number of subscribers, to more than 6,800 while
the number of page-views has tripled, to 3.6 lakh, and the number of videos
has gone up five times, to more than 750.
Online Accreditation System
PIB provides accreditation to media representatives including foreign media
at the Headquarters in New Delhi. A fully on-line system of accreditation
has been operationalised from 2010 onwards to make the process prompt
and efficient. PIB provides accreditation to media representatives including
foreign media at the PIB Headquarters. The Bureau utilized the process of
online accreditation during 2014-15 successfully. During 2015, 474 press
accreditation cards have been issued by the Bureau.
Emergency Control Room
The PIB has a News Room/Control Room which is operational round the
year to meet challenges emerging out of any eventuality during any time of
the day or night. Arrangements for holding press conferences at short
notices and simultaneous web-cast through PIB centres across the country
are also kept in a state of readiness to handle any sudden development and
unexpected situation even after 9.00 P.M. The Control Room functions on
24X7 basis during emergencies and time of crisis.
Journalists’ Welfare Scheme
The Press Information Bureau has been implementing the scheme of
‘Journalists' Welfare Fund’. The revised scheme provides one time ex gratia
relief on urgent basis to journalists and their families suffering from hardship.
Assistance of up to an amount of ` 5 lakh can be sanctioned to the journalist
under this scheme. Relief can be given to the family under extreme hardship
on account of death of the journalist or to the journalist in case of permanent
disability. Assistance is also given towards the cost of treatment of major
ailments like cancer, renal failure, heart ailment, brain haemorrhage etc.
Financial assistance is also given in case of accidents causing serious injuries
requiring hospitalization.