It's a rare scene. People distributing sweets, exchanging congratulatory notes and smiles galore. The exit of former director of public relations Purusottam Sharma was marked with jubilations and celebrations. This showed his ‘exemplary' PR skills and ‘unmatched relationship' he enjoyed with his colleagues.
He earned so much ‘respect' among colleagues that their sullen faces brighten up on his marching order.
Purusottam Sharma, a 1997 batch Rajasthan Administrative Service officer has been on APO, after serving for more than 33 months in directorate of information and public relations.
During his stint, it is said that he threatened his subordinates and showed biased approach. So much so that in the month of May 2023, all the public relation officers in the department protested openly against him.
PROs of Rajasthan wrote letter to then CM
The association of PROs – PRASAR – in a memorandum to then chief minister Ashok Gehlot had accused Sharma of inappropriate behaviour and callous attitude towards staff. In the memorandum the office bearers said that Sharma is discourteous to his fellow staff and uses inappropriate language.
The PRASAR had warned then chief minister of strong agitation if the director was not removed from his post. The officials were demanding posting of an IAS officer to head the department in place of Sharma, who was a state service officer.
Their demand has now been fulfilled by the new government, which has appointed Sunil Sharma, an IAS officer as commissioner DIPR.
Sunil Sharma is a 2013 batch IAS officer who is considered to be fair officer.
A soft spoken officer, Sunil Sharma has been result oriented. PROs of Rajasthan and the entire PR department is happy with his arrival.
What PRASAR alleged against Purosottam
In the memorandum to then chief minister Ashok Gehlot, PRASAR has written:
“Whenever he (Purusottam Sharma) chairs any meeting, he misbehaves with subordinates. This has demotivated the entire team of PROs. In the election year, how can government win back with a demoralised army of public relation officers, who are the ‘mouth piece' of government,” said an officer bearer of PRASAR.
Incidentally, Congress lost the election of which PRASAR had warned Gehlot in its memorandum.
Office bearers of PRASAR claimed that Congress would have done better had Purusottam Sharma been ‘thrown out' earlier from the department.
“His insensitive and callous attitude was evident during the recently held recruitment of Assistant Public Relation officers also. He deliberately delayed joining and posting of new recruits for no reasons just to show his superiority,” said an officer bearer of PRASAR.
Prakash Bhandari is a veteran journalist with over 50 years of experience. He has worked with The Times of India for 30 years and contributed to leading publications as well as international news agency AFP.
