According to the UGC, over 40,000 media professionals graduate every year from India, who are trained in new media, content strategy, branding, public relations, and crisis communication. The country is not short of talent, it is short of a system that recognizes and utilizes that talent in governance.
In an era dominated by the battle of perceptions, narrative warfare has become as critical as conventional warfare. For a government to succeed not just in policy implementation but also in public perception, its communication strategy must be sharp, professional, and proactive. In this context, the Indian Information Service (IIS)—the eyes and ears of the Government of India—plays a central role in crafting and communicating narratives that shape public opinion both domestically and globally. However, the lack of professional representation within IIS has begun to blunt the government’s communication machinery, particularly when the Modi government is aiming to project India’s rising stature on the global stage while also countering misinformation, both internal and cross-border.
The Indian Information Service personnel are tasked with informing, shaping, and defending government policies across platforms—through the Press Information Bureau, New Media Wing, All India Radio, Doordarshan, and several other units. They are also responsible for countering misinformation, running awareness campaigns, and ensuring public trust in governance through effective storytelling. In today’s hyper-digital age, where Twitter trends can influence elections and a viral video can threaten diplomatic relations, communication is no longer a bureaucratic task but a strategic national function. Hence, the professionals managing this function must not only understand communication deeply but also possess technical expertise, crisis communication skills, and narrative-building acumen—traits that only trained media professionals can consistently deliver.
The roots of India’s narrative control once lay firmly in the hands of trained journalists and communicators, not generalist bureaucrats. The former Central Information Service, which evolved into IIS in 1987, had at its helm professionals such as Khushwant Singh, editor of Yojana magazine, Kuldeep Nayar, Press Advisor to PM Lal Bahadur Shastri, H.Y. Sharada Prasad, Information Advisor to PM Indira Gandhi, I.C. Tiwari and U.C. Tiwari, directors of IIMC and key media strategists.
These were seasoned professionals with media instincts, storytelling vision, and a nuanced understanding of public opinion. They brought journalistic integrity, editorial leadership, and ground connect—something glaringly absent in the current structure where most entrants come from the reserve lists of civil services, with little or no background in journalism or mass communication.
The current recruitment structure of IIS allows non-media candidates, selected through the Civil Services Examination to enter the service. Most of these entrants lack even the basics of communication and are expected to run sophisticated information campaigns in a complex digital environment. Moreover, as data shows, a majority of these CSE-selected officers opt out of IIS when offered other preferred services, resulting in a leadership vacuum and discontinuity in the system.
Meanwhile, officer who entered at group B level with mass communication degrees and rich field experience, remain stagnated for years without promotion or decision-making authority. The imbalance is not just unfair. it is counterproductive. No successful communication system can function if trained media professionals are left without voice or vision-setting roles, while those unfamiliar with communication are entrusted with strategy.
Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Government of India has taken communication seriously. From Mann Ki Baat to MyGov, from diplomatic messaging to countering narratives on Kashmir, CAA, or Article 370, the Modi government has shown media sensitivity. Yet, its core institutional mechanism to execute such media strategies IIS is lagging. This mismatch is critical. The Modi government faces a double-front information war. First, internally, from a highly politicized and agenda-driven private media, secondly externally, from hostile foreign narratives and global propaganda networks.
Governments today need professionals who not only understand the nuances of mass communication and media ethics but can also handle information architecture, influence operations, real-time fact-checking, crisis communication, and content warfare. No ministry of defense would appoint a non-military man to lead combat operations. Why then should India entrust its narrative battles to untrained communication generals?
In recent years, the Modi government has attempted lateral entry of domain experts in several ministries—an acknowledgment that technical ministries need technocrats, not generalists. In departments like NITI Aayog, Railways, and Environment, this approach has brought fresh energy and innovation. India’s space agency ISRO is perhaps the best example: no bureaucrats, only engineers and scientists. The results are evident.
Similarly, the IIS should be reimagined as a media corps. There should be a different cadre for information service which cater media professional like Indian Engineering service, statistics service, forest service and else. This model can vastly improve India’s ability to craft compelling narratives and counter disinformation globally. To make the Indian Information Service future-ready and professional, reinstate the recommendation of the Satish Chandra Committee (1989) to remove IIS and other technical services from the general CSE framework. Instead, conduct a dedicated recruitment exam focused on media aptitude, communication knowledge, and editorial skill. Fast-track promotion schemes may be launched for Group B officers with professional backgrounds, ensuring their rise to policy-making levels within the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
The Government should set up or strengthen editorial think tanks under IIS—comprising media veterans, content strategists, linguists, and new media experts—to support ministries in crafting nuanced messaging. Professionals with field expertise should not be treated as subordinates to generalists. Instead, policy-making, content strategy, and editorial decisions must be co-led by media professionals, not just bureaucrats. Conduct annual assessments of officers’ media skills—fact-checking, social media response time, storytelling, visual communication—and integrate these into performance appraisals.
According to the University Grants Commission, over 40,000 media professionals graduate every year from India’s central, state, and private universities. These include alumni from global institutions and Indian universities who are trained in new media, content strategy, branding, public relations, and crisis communication. The country is not short of talent—it is short of a system that recognizes and utilizes that talent in governance.
In the 21st century, information is power. The ability to shape perception is central to governance. From countering Western media bias to debunking internal misinformation, from managing elections to handling diplomacy, India’s narrative control needs professional hands. If the government is serious about winning the war of ideas, it must restructure the Information Service not as a residual civil service but as a dedicated professional corps, drawing its strength from the country’s vibrant and competent media talent. India needs professional, purposeful, and powerful.
