NC Joshi’s sacking has caused angst among other PIB officers who feel it was unjustified to crucify him for the mistake by a minister.
Three weeks after a controversial ad featuring former Pakistani air chief Tanvir Ahmed’s photo appeared in a campaign by her ministry, women and child development (WCD) minister Krishna Tirath has fired her media officer NC Joshi.
Tirath said Joshi failed “to prevent negative reporting and media bashing against her.”
The ad was published in a national daily on the occasion of National Girl Child Day on January 24. The faux-pas left the government red-faced, forcing prime minister Manmohan Singh to issue an apology to the nation. Subsequently, the government ordered an inquiry and Singh sought personal explanation from Tirath.
Joshi was removed by the minister shortly after the goof-up. His mistake was that he could not adhere to the minister’s wishes and prevent media from writing anything against her on the issue. Sources said an angry Tirath asked Joshi to “stop entering her ministry” and “interacting with her officers”. Incidentally, the inquiry committee report is still awaited.
Joshi is an officer from the Press Information Bureau (PIB) and was posted with the WCD ministry since it came into existence under Renuka Chowdhury during the UPA’s first term. The officer had a long experience of coordinating with media and is considered to be one of the most efficient officers of the PIB.
Tirath’s action has caused angst among other PIB officers who feel it was unjustified to crucify an officer for the mistake by a minister. Sources said given Tirath’s temperament, none of the officers were willing to work with her. As a result, the ministry was yet to get a replacement for Joshi.
Directorate of Advertisement and Visual Publicity (DAVP), the agency that prepares all government ads, has said that the ad, its content and concept all came from the WCD ministry. In this particular incident, the minister had not involved anyone else during the preparation of the controversial ad.
During her meeting with PM, Tirath had pleaded ignorance saying officials did not check the advertisement properly before releasing it. However, her argument did not cut ice with the PM.
Even though the prime minister’s office wanted an early report, Tirath extended the probe panel’s deadline by another two weeks. The report will be out by month-end.
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