The Ministry of Railways in the third week of April got the appointment of Rajesh Dutt Bajpai (IRTS:1998) cleared for the post of Director (Media & Corporate Communication) in the Coordination Cell. But his appointment became a matter of talking point in the backdrop of the fact that the Ministry has a separate Department and a well-established hierarchy for handling the affairs of Public Relations.
In addition to a department headed by the Additional Director General, Public Relations (ADG, PR), the appointment of a separate Director for Media & Corporate Communication is rather unusual.
Indianmandarins has reliably learnt that Bajpai has been given the responsibility to strike a chord with the media reflecting the aspirations of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. It is learnt that initially, the department under ADG, PR, was asked to publicize the goodwill of the minister as a 'picture perfect,' but the department was of the opinion that this could be done only for the ministry and not for the Minister per se. Reportedly, this dilemma threw up the idea of having a separate officer dedicated to publicize the Minister's Goodwill and reflect his aspirations for the Ministry of Railways.