Telangana I&PR Officials Participate
New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner Shri Gyanesh Kumar underscored the pivotal role of District Public Relation officers in strengthening electoral democracy through the timely dissemination of authentic information and effective countering of misinformation. He was addressing the One-day National Conference for Media & Communication Nodal Officers organised by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in New Delhi.
The conference brought together around 240 District Public Relations Officers (DPROs), along with Media Nodal Officers (MNOs) and Social Media Nodal Officers (SMNOs) from 15 States and Union Territories, including Telangana. The sessions focused on election communication, media management, election laws, digital technologies, Artificial Intelligence (AI), social media challenges and strategies to combat misinformation.
Addressing the participants, Shri Gyanesh Kumar said election communication must be timely, factual and transparent to strengthen public confidence in the electoral process. Referring to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, he said the exercise is being undertaken in accordance with the provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1955, to ensure that only eligible Indian citizens are included in the electoral rolls.
Senior Election Commission officials delivered Power Point presentations on election transparency, Form 17C, constitutional provisions under Article 324, media regulation, Paid News monitoring, election communication strategies, and the emerging challenges posed by social media, AI-generated content and deepfakes.
The conference also showcased ECINet, the Election Commission’s integrated digital platform that offers voter registration, correction of electoral details, polling station information, candidate affidavits, election results and several other citizen-centric services through a single interface. Participants were encouraged to create greater public awareness about ECINet to enable citizens to access authentic election-related information and services directly from the Election Commission.
Representing Telangana, Chief Electoral Office Additional Secretary
N. Shankar, Special Deputy Collector Prasanna Raj, Joint Director, Telangana Media Academy U. Venkateswara Rao, Public Relations Officers M. Kiranmayee and A. Vanaja, along with Meenakshi, Indira, Anil, Vishwesh and other District Public Relations Officers from the State, participated.
