NEW DELHI: The newly-appointed director general of Archeological Survey of India (ASI) has issued a gag order to all its officials posted at circles and mini circles barring them from ‘interacting’ with mediapersons without prior approval from the headquarters.V Vidyavathi took over as the new D-G on May 12.
Officials privy to the developments said that verbal directions from the top official, reportedly under pressure from the ministry of culture, said non-compliance would invite punitive action.
An ASI official, “There is not much clarity on the matter but officers have been asked not to speak with journalists. The message was circulated in the official WhatsApp group. Recently, some reports regarding excavation in Gujarat had appeared in the media, which upset the new D-G after which the restriction order was issued,” said.
There are 29 circles and three mini circles across 28 states and eight UTs. However, a section of the ASI officers had a different take on the directives. The officials said they could see it coming as the ministry has been issuing statements directly on subjects without the knowledge of the survey.
“Lately, it has been observed that all major matters regarding conveying information to journalists are decided at the ministry level and most of the time, the senior officials at ASI are not aware of the developments. Sometimes, top functionaries come to know about the decision from media reports like the news about closure of monuments and heritage sites under ASI during lockdown in March was broken by the ministry. The D-G was not taken into confidence,” said an official.
Citing an instance of restraining the ASI from making an official statement, another official said that information about reopening of religious places under survey’s jurisdiction on June 8 during unlock 1.0 was issued by the ministry.
“Strict orders were issued to keep the process under wraps until it is officially announced. Everything was dealt at ministry level and ASI just acted as facilitators. Even the entire standard operating procedure (SOP) was prepared and finalised by the ministry,” he said.