TIRUCHY: Even as corporates, educational institutions, hospitals, political parties and prominent personalities are taking steps to maintain a Public Relations Officer or a spokesperson, the government is either delaying or avoiding appointment of such communication officers in its prominent offices. Three prominent offices in the city - the Corporation, international airport and Tiruchy Railway Division - are not having a full-time PRO.
The post in the Corporation has been lying vacant for the past five years. At a time when several initiatives and programmes, including Swachh Bharat and Smart Cities Mission projects are under way, residents are mostly kept in the dark about new developments. There is little communication from the Corporation, through media, to the public.
Certain initiatives of the Corporation like promoting cycling in the city were unsuccessful owing to the lack of public relations.
When the matter was raised before Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru, he said, "Due to financial issues, we are unable to fill the PRO post in the Corporation. We consider it unnecessary for now."
The case with Tiruchy airport is much different as the airport does not have a PRO post in the first place.
A senior airport official said, "We are having a grievance officer for passengers to register their complaints. Passengers can also take up the issues with the terminal manager. Mediapersons can contact the airport director for official responses."
The airliners, however, have their own communications managers. The lack of a PRO at the airport means that vital information often go unnoticed by passengers.
There are several infrastructural upgrade works going on at the airport. There is no proper channel of communication to inform of flight rescheduling, cancellation and other developments.
However, some of the airline staff and airport officials believe that the Tiruchy airport may get communication officers, when it ends up in the hands of private players.
"Since the Central government has already included Tiruchy airport in its monetisation package, the private management would appoint a spokesperson to ensure publicity and outreach for their initiatives," an airline staffer said.
The Tiruchy Railway Division is in a better position as it used to have a full-time PRO till this February. But, it has not made any new appointment to the post, which has been lying vacant since a transfer six months ago. When contacted, senior officials said the Railway is in the process of filling the post.
"The Railway has already started the process for filling the vacancy in Tiruchy. The absence of the post would not affect the public as he is not the point of contact for passengers. The point of contact for passengers is the Divisional Commercial Manager. PROs are the points of contact for journalists alone," a senior Railway official said.