Minister for Information, Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs Chowdhary Zulfkar Ali today inaugurated Auditorium at Media complex, Rail Head here.The Minister dedicated the auditorium to the Department of Information and Public Relations and to the public of Jammu constructed at the cost of Rs. 11 crore by Jammu Development Authority.While addressing the gathering, the Minister said there is a need to promote cultural heritage and local dialects spoken in different parts of the state. “To protect ones identity, language needs to be protected,” the Minister said, adding that people are forgetting their mother languages and it is important to preserve the same.Asking the department to organize North Zone Cultural Festival in State, the Minister said there is a need that the artists from different states visit here and know about different cultures and heritages of the state.Terming Culture as an important component of Public Relations, the Minister appreciated the team of Information department for organizing various cultural activities to strengthen the bond with the people through culture.Stressing on team work, the Minister said that objectives need to be achieved only with the collective effort of the team.
The Minister said that in Srinagar, media complex is equipped with meeting room and an auditorium and various activities were taken place there and events would be organized on the same lines here in Jammu as well.He said that strengthening the cultural wing of the department will provide new life to the talent in the department. We must not adopt other languages and cultures at the cost of ours’, the Minister said.Terming media as a 4th pillar of democracy, the Minster said government must stay in constant connect with the media as people have trust in media. He said that Government is working for betterment of the people and the work must reach to the people. To bridge the gap between government and the public, the Minister bats for district wise media houses to bridge the gap between government and the public.The Minister applauded the cultural wing and cultural officer Raman Joshi for putting up a good cultural show during the inaugural ceremony and congratulated the entire staff of Information department for getting a fully equipped auditorium for conducting press conferences and other activities.Director Information also presented a memento to the Minister.Director Information, Muneer-ul-Islam, Director FCS&CA, R.A. Inqalabi, Vice Chairman, JDA, R. K Shavan, Joint Director Jammu, Manisha Sarin, Joint Director (HQ), Abdul Majid Zargar, Ex Directors of Information, K B Jandial and Narinder Singh besides prominent citizens and media persons were present on the occasion.