By IANS
New Delhi : The Indian defence ministry’s directorate of public relations has been lauded for the “magnificent manner” in which it publicised the fourth Military World Games (MWG) held at Hyderabad and Mumbai last October.
The kudos came in a letter from the Brussels-based Conseil International Du Sports Militaire (CISM), the apex body for the conduct of military sports across the world, to Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi.
The MWG organising committee received a copy of the letter Friday.
The publicity and promotion of the Games was an extremely difficult and challenging assignment,” said CISM Secretary General Col. Michel van Meurs.
However, the chairman of the media and publicity committee, Sitanshu Kar, who also heads the defence ministry’s PR directorate, his deputy D.J. Narain and their team “rose to the occasion and carried out a wonderfully orchestrated multimedia campaign for about a year”, Meurs said.
“The publicity reached great proportions when the Games actually started. The whole world watched the Military World Games for the first time in history,” the letter said.
“Conducting of such a huge and sustained activity involving media from all continents besides India’s huge media requires a complex and delicate logistics cum infrastructure arrangement plan as well.
“I must compliment your team for ensuring that most professional arrangements were laid out for the global media. Everyone went happy and fully satisfied with a top-notch media effort,” Meurs added.
The Military World Games had witnessed record participation of over 5,000 sportspersons and officials from 101 countries. Nearly 750 media persons from home and abroad had descended on Hyderabad and Mumbai to report on the event – the biggest ever sports extravaganza India has hosted so far.
Meanwhile, in a rare gesture, the Indian Army has honoured Kar and Narain with a commendation card from the army chief, Gen. Deepak Kapoor and the vice chief, Lt. Gen. Milan Naidu, respectively for their “stellar role”‘ in strategizing and executing the media plan for the Games.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony had earlier commended the directorate of public relations for the professional manner in which they went about facilitating the media and providing publicity to the Games.