Rajesh Malhotra has assumed charge as Principal Director General, Press Information Bureau (PIB). Malhotra takes over after the superannuation of Satyendra Prakash.
Previously, Malhotra, an Indian Information Service (IIS) Officer of the 1989 batch, had been working in the Ministry of Finance since January 2018. During the critical COVID-19 pandemic, he effectively steered the media and communication policy in the Ministry of Finance in sync with the various Aatma Nirbhar Bharat packages announced by the Government of India over time to give relief to people and maintain economic balance.
Malhotra has over 32 years of operational experience in planning and implementation of Media & Communication strategies for various Central Government Ministries/ Departments, including Finance, Company Affairs, Agriculture, Power, Coal, Mines, Communications & IT, Textiles, Labour, New & Renewable Energy. Further, he was associated with the Election Commission of India as in-charge of media & communication for 21 years (1996-2017), thereby planning and implementing media & communication strategies during the six General Elections to the Lok Sabha, along with several State Assembly Polls and elections for the President and Vice-President of India, conducted by the Election Commission. During this tenure, Malhotra had worked closely with 12 Chief Election Commissioners.
Malhotra holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from IMT, Ghaziabad, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Media Laws from NALSAR, Hyderabad. Further, he has also been a part of the short-term course on Public Policy Analysis from University of California, Media Management & Strategies at Thomson Foundation, UK and the Programme on ‘Marketing: The Winning Concepts & Practices’ organised by IIM Lucknow at New Delhi. He is also a fellow member of Institute of Company Secretaries of India and also holds degree in Law.
As a spokesperson, Malhotra has the experience of successfully establishing ‘Two-way’ communication channels between the Government, on one hand, and the media, on the other. He has been successfully managing crisis situations during his varied assignments in different Ministries in his distinguished career, and has ensured that only the correct perspective/ information is disseminated to the media. He also has a wide experience in coordinating media coverage for International Conferences/ events as he has been an integral part of various Ministerial Delegations from India during his career.
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