Don’t allow journos into offices: Uttarakhand tells IAS officers

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand chief secretary (CS) Utpal Kumar Singh has issued orders asking for restriction on entry of journalists inside the state secretariat premises. The move, he told mediapersons at a briefing on Thursday, was “to provide authentic and accurate news and prevent half-baked information from being given to reporters.” Singh said, “We will hold a media briefing at 4 pm each day in which complete information would be provided.The objective behind this move is to provide right facts and correct information.”
On being asked how a media briefing can replace face-to-face interactions with officials which are often necessary for a journalist to get information about a particular story, Singh said, “Mediapersons can cross-check whatever details we provide at the briefing by examining the reality on the ground. The aim behind the exercise is not to restrict media but ensure dissemination of authentic information. Also, we want to save the time of reporters by preventing them from running from one location to another in search of details.”
Incidentally, the CS had sent a three-page letter to IAS officers a few days ago expressing concern that matters listed for cabinet meetings were being leaked to media before the meeting. Terming it an "extremely serious issue", Singh had stressed the need to maintain confidentiality in such matters and asked officials to ensure that their staff kept files and documents related to the matters listed for the cabinet meeting in sealed envelopes.
He had also instructed them to make sure that “entry of outsiders and mediapersons is restricted in your departments.”
Through the letter, the CS had warned that if any news related to a cabinet meeting was published or telecast before the meeting, “a probe would be done by the additional chief secretary, principal secretary, secretary or secretary-in-charge to find out the source of the leak.” The letter ended with the chief secretary asking the IAS officers to “strictly follow the instructions.”
When CM Trivendra Singh Rawat was asked about the need to restrict the movement of mediapersons — when his government was claiming to bring complete transparency in its functioning —- the CM said, “ Our intention is not to hide anything from the media but to provide them correct information. We want to maintain full transparency in every matter, for which regular interaction with media is important. However, since misleading news often leads to loss of credibility for media, we want to provide details in an organised and proper manner.”