I&B bars ‘merging’ after PM gaffe

A month after a goof-up where a doctored photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertaking an aerial survey of Tamil Nadu floods had generated a lot of flak, the information & broadcasting ministry has come up with standard operating procedures to avoid such a situation in future.

The SOP, which bars “merging” of two pictures with regard to VVIP visits, has been issued after the ministry received feedback from various departments concerned.

Last month, the Press Information Bureau, which comes under the I&B ministry, was severely criticised after it “merged” two pictures related to the Prime Minister’s survey of the flood-hit areas and posted it on twitter.

In a clarification, the PIB had said, “This happened due to error of judgement and the picture was subsequently deleted. PIB regrets the release of the above-mentioned picture and inconvenience caused is regretted.”

The government information department had further said, “Out of the seven pictures released, one picture used the technique of merging two pictures. This is being referred to as ‘photo shopping’ in sections of media.”

It is learnt that other steps have also been laid down in the SOP, which include restriction on issuing soft copies of the Prime Minister’s coverage.