Workshop on “PR Skill Development”
Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Skill Development, a centre of excellence at School of Management Sciences, Varanasi and Public Relations Society of India (PRSI) jointly organized a one day workshop On “PR Skill Development” on 25th April 2018. An initiative of SMS – IQAC, this workshop was an endeavor to develop the skill of creating and enhancing public relations among the students of BBA, BCA, MCA and MBA. The event was presided over by mavens of managing public relations – Shri Amitabh Bhattacharya, National Executive Council Member – PRSI; Shri Narendra Mehta, Vice-President (North), PRSI and Shri Pradeep Upadhyay, National Executive Council Member, PRSI.
The workshop began with an insightful welcome address by Prof. P.N. Jha, Director – School of Management Sciences, Varanasi. Mentioning the various instances of fake news in the recent past, Prof. Jha emphasized on media’s responsibility towards delivering the factual and accurate information and suggested that the PR people must take cognizance of fabricated and false information circulating among the public and strive towards building trustworthy and credible public relations. Afterwards, Shri Pradeep Upadhyay introduced the students to the historical background and functions of Public Relations Society of India whereas Shri Narendra Mehta, Vice-President (North), PRSI engaged into a meaningful dialogue with the students to offer them practical insights about the profession and practices pertaining to public relations in Indian corporate sector. Shri Amitabh Bhattacharya, National Executive Council Member – PRSI, stressed upon the moral values and implications of practicing truth and honesty in the profession of building and maintaining public relations. He underlined the difference between propaganda, advertising and public relations by using interesting examples from various walks of life and stated that a society’s character essentially depends upon its culture. Rampant modernization and globalization has affected the cultural underpinnings of India to a great extent and diluted the strength of its society’s character.
Prof. R K Singh, Chairperson–CEISD & Programme Convener delivered the Vote of Thanks where he recounted his experience of working in close association with PR professionals and expressed gratitude towards the speakers for sharing their knowledge about public relations with the students. The programme was coordinated by Shri Saurabh Srivastava, Assistant Professor – School of Management Sciences, Varanasi. Various faculty members of the institute such as Dr. Anupam Shukla, Shri Kartikeya Singh, Dr. Medha Srivastava, Shri Veeresh Tripathi and Shri Chandrashekhar Singh were present on this occasion.