Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today said that the Ministry was in the process of setting up of National Centre of Excellence for Animation, Gaming and VFX (NCOE) in Maharashtra to harness India’s soft power in the sector.
The institute would be a world class institution to provide skilled manpower in this emerging area.
The Ministry has also included “Most Film Friendly State” as a special category award in National Film Awards this year. The Shyam Benegal Committee report for holistic interpretation of the provisions of the Cinematograph Act/ Rules was under consideration of the Ministry. All India Radio had completed the FMisation of all channels of Vividh Bharati all over the country.
Addressing the first consultative meeting of members of Parliament attached to his Ministry since he took charge, he said that a Digital Media and New Print Media Advertisement policy was framed recently to promote transparency and accountability in issuing of advertisements. He also apprised the members about the three-member committee constituted by the Ministry to address the issues related to Content Regulation in Government Advertising. (The Committee had been formed after orders by the Supreme Court in a case relating to government advertisements.)
He said the Ministry had played a critical role in the communication and outreach activities for the Government Flagship schemes and Initiatives such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Make in India, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, etc. through 360 degree Multimedia campaigns. Minister of State Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was also present in the meeting.
Referring to the Publications Division which was the subject of the meeting, Naidu said that the Division may approach stakeholders as part of corporate social responsibility to sponsor books for schools and libraries across the country. This would enhance the visibility of the rich collection of Divisions publications and at the same time making these books available to the younger generation in far off and remote villages.
A presentation was made by Joint Secretary Mihir Kumar Singh on behalf of the Ministry giving an overview of the steps and initiatives undertaken so far by the Division as well as the future roadmap for the Publications Division. Members of the committee were specially apprised of the digitisation and e-initiatives of the Publications Division including the e-version of 100 volumes of Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi.
Parliamentarians V. Sathyabama, Madhusudan Mistry and Vivek Gupta, Sanjay Jaiswal, Dev (Moon Moon Sen) Varma, and Harivansh attended the meeting.