President Ranil Wickramasinghe suddenly attended a meeting which was called yesterday without prior notice.
It was regarding a workshop held today (07) at the Government Information Department to educate the press secretaries of all cabinet ministers, state ministers and governors about the state communication mechanism.
The President had said that although all the above officers had been invited to the workshop, only 85% had attended and those who did not attend should be looked into.
The President said that all of them have a responsibility and emphasized that if they do not fulfil that responsibility, the existing problems will grow and the people must be notified of the government’s program.
The president further said that the problematic situation has arisen from social media today, not from electronic media or printed media.
President Ranil Wickramasinghe emphasized that in order to recover the country from the current challenge, stability in the country as well as the dissemination of correct information is essential.
The President also said that nothing can be achieved without propaganda.
Mr. Ranil Wickramasinghe, who further commented,
“It must be said that holding such workshops is a timely step. I do not expect to comment at length here.
I have spoken enough now. It is now to give the essence of those stories to the country. The program of the government has been informed to the country. We are in very difficult times. I don’t think we have faced such a situation not in the 20th century and even before that. We have to get out of this. Many people have lost hope. We must fix that situation. government’s program should be mentioned to the people.
We are aware of the problems in the country, even if we cannot find solutions for all the problems, we are aware of them. A message should be given to the people about it. Everyone wants to know what the government is doing. If there are mistakes, they should be corrected. We need to get out of this difficult time. If there is instability in the country, it will not recover. There should be stability in the country. It is necessary to provide the correct information to create that stability.
Today, the problem has arisen from social media, not from electronic media or printed media. There are both good and bad. It is a problem for the whole world. It affects us, especially at this time. So all of you have a responsibility to fulfil this.
If your responsibility is not fulfilled properly, the whole country will have to face more problems. You are meeting today to deliver that message. I got to know that all press secretaries have been invited to this workshop. But according to the attendance register, about 83% of people have participated in this today. We need to find out who didn’t come. Because these people have a responsibility. How to explain the facts to the media, how to correct misconceptions, a big campaign has to be carried out for that. Nothing succeeds without publicity.
In addition, there are other programs. You should be aware of that too. It is the 75th anniversary of independence that will be celebrated next year. And from next week, according to the idea of the former speaker, the program of forming public assemblies has been planned. Thus there is a large section of work. Such programs are organized to get publicity about it. Also, I have proposed to call this group once in 03 months and discuss.” The President said.
Ministry press secretaries have prime responsibility in publicizing the development and policy program of the government, and in this workshop, the press secretaries were informed about the importance of maintaining optimal coordination between the Government Information Department, the Presidential Media Division and the Ministries to maintain the state communication mechanism strong.
