Punjab Government on Wednesday decided to expand its social media outreach by setting up 15 expert social media teams on the outsourced model amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Cabinet on Wednesday approved an annual budget of Rs 7 crore for these teams, which will be constituted by engaging professionals and experts in the field, an official spokesperson said.
Since certain departments of the state government have a high level of interaction with the public, it was essential that all important information relating to COVID-19 and the preventive measures being put in place to combat it.
The social media teams would help in bridging the gap between these departments and the public at large.
In order to cater the requirements of such departments, the Cabinet also gave nod to engage the services of 63 social media professionals/experts, including one media manager, two assistant media managers, 15 digital media executives, 15 video editors, 15 graphic designers and 15 content writers on an outsourced basis for a period of one year.
Besides creating awareness among the people about the precautions, norms, among others, relating to the pandemic, the teams would also help in countering the spread of misinformation by providing credible and updated information to them on a regular basis.
( With inputs from ANI )