Private media consultant for I-T dept for image makeover!

NEW DELHI: The income tax (IT) department is exploring the idea of hiring a private media consultant to effectively project the department, shunning the "conservative mindset" where it has only one designated spokesperson who has to take the approval of the Central Board of Direct Taxes ( CBDT) chairman before every media interaction.

According to an agenda pa per taken up at the department's top-level deliberations here, the CBDT spokesperson issues statements only after the chief 's nod in a "one-way" interaction full of "boring" officialese. "Such centralisation results in very rare interactions with the media," the paper said. In recent years, successive chairpersons of CBDT, the apex board which controls the department, have instructed its directorates not to interact with the media and maintain secrecy in activities. The spokesperson is never available for comments.

The paper observed that the department barely reacted to malicious media reports and shied away from highlighting the excellent work done in the field year after year. The agenda paper suggested reviewing the media policy. "There is no mechanism to ensure systematic interaction with the media," it said. The department has to put in place certain measures where the press is engaged in a positive manner more frequently, the paper suggested.