Mumbai: The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal took a u-turn on his circular restricting HODs, deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners from sharing information with the media.
On Monday October 19, the BMC had issued a circular stating only the civic chief and the additional municipal commissioner will be authorized to speak to the media henceforth.
The circular said that only the commissioner himself and additional commissioners concerned will be the “competent authority” authorised to speak to the media. “Other officers and employees below the additional municipal commissioner rank are not authorised to speak to the media,” it stated.
The circular was issued after it was found that department heads often shared information, including policy matters with the media without the municipal commissioner’s order, it said.
Contradictory information was getting disseminated most of the time, which affected the civic body’s image among the public, the circular said.
However, on Tuesday, he reversed his decision and allowed joint commissioners, deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners to share requisite information with the media. The commissioner had an interactive session on Tuesday with city journalists covering the BMC beat, when he mentioned that wrong information was provided to the media for the last few months. He said that on several occasions journalists complained to him that the BMC officers were disseminating false information which was the main reason behind issuing the circular. “Therefore, I decided only AMC and I will speak to the media,” he said.
However, when the journalists pointed out that everyday many of them would need to seek information and clarifications from officers in various departments, he agreed to give the authority to deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners and joint commissioners of various departments to furnish accurate information to the media.
However, he said, he would keep the heads of departments out of the loop, as there would be too many people giving out information which could lead to confusion.
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