Bhubaneswar, October 9: An orientation programme for the Odisha Information Service (OIS) was organised at the Lok Seva Bhawna here. Press Information Bureau (PIB) Additional Director General (ADG) Akhil Kumar Mishra graced the event and urged the OIS officers to connect with the citizens to bridge the governance gap through effective public dialogue.

He also highlighted multiple objectives for the programme.

“Communication is not an incidental postscript to administration but the very foundational prerequisite of effective governance,” said Mishra.

He articulated the imperatives of modern government communication, ethics in public service, and the evolving paradigm of citizen engagement.

Drawing upon over three decades of observing state and central governance architectures, Mishra underscored that the underlying challenges of reaching the common citizen remain largely identical across jurisdictions.

“Barring critical sovereign concerns like national security, the core issues affecting governance at the Center and the State converge on the common citizen. The communication landscape has undergone a radical transformation, and officers must decipher and navigate this evolving process,” he stated.

During the session, Mishra conducted an interactive, experiential blindfold simulation to dissect the operational nuances of message transmission, leadership, trust, and directional ambiguity.

Reviewing the exercise, he warned against the perils of reductionist communication, “Merely passing down a pamphlet, booklet, or hoarding is not communication - it is merely functioning as a postman. Genuine communication demands clarity of direction, actionable guidance, empathy, and active listening. It is inherently a two-way street.”

He urged the information officers to proactively equip their teams and downstream channels with comprehensive, lucid context to ensure welfare messaging reaches the last mile effectively without distortion or attrition.

The conference was attended by Information & Public Relations Director Sanjay Kumar Biswal, along with several senior officers and representatives from the state administration.