IIMC awards first PG degrees to IIS officer trainees after university status

MUMBAI: For India’s information officers, the graduation message is loud and clear: communication is no longer just about getting the word out, but getting it right. The Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) has awarded postgraduate degrees to Group A Officer Trainees of the Indian Information Service (IIS) for the first time after becoming a Deemed to be University.

The degrees were conferred at IIMC’s Valedictory Function and Graduation Ceremony for officer trainees from the 2009, 2023 and 2024 batches. The trainees received an MA in Public Communication & Governance after completing the prescribed academic and professional requirements.

The move marks a new academic chapter for IIS training, bringing formal postgraduate study in public communication, media and governance into the professional development of information service officers.

Chanchal Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said public communication is an integral part of governance and must keep pace with rapidly changing technologies and platforms. With artificial intelligence emerging as a gamechanger, he also flagged misinformation, deepfakes and synthetically generated content as growing challenges for officers working in the information ecosystem.

But speed alone, he stressed, cannot win the communication race. Accuracy and credibility remain essential because every message carries the authority of the institution behind it. He also underlined the need for communication to work as a two-way street, with citizen feedback feeding into better policies and implementation.

For the newly graduated officers, that means looking beyond the communication brief. Kumar said officers must continuously upgrade their skills, stay connected with the field and be ready to understand wider aspects of governance when responsibilities extend beyond communication.

At the heart of that approach, he said, should be the citizen, particularly the poorest of the poor. Officers should continually ask whether their work is helping people and, where it is not, rethink and replan their approach while responding to public concerns with compassion.

Dr Pragya Paliwal Gaur, Vice-Chancellor, IIMC, said the trainees were the first recipients of the postgraduate degree, reflecting the institute’s expanding academic role and its close connection with professional communication training.

She said communication is about creating understanding rather than simply transmitting information, with officers expected to approach their responsibilities with clarity, objectivity and sensitivity. The MA degree, she added, also underlines the importance of continuous learning in a field that is constantly changing.

The ceremony was attended by Prabhat, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; K K Nirala, Joint Secretary; L Madhu Nag, Director General, Training; along with senior ministry officials, IIMC faculty members and the officer trainees.