The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has, in a circular, directed its information officers across the state’s districts to do a better job at tracking newspapers for “negative news” as it is “tarnishing the image of the government”. The circular further says that if the news is “baseless” then the said newspaper’s editor or local reporter should be asked by the concerned department to publish the “correct facts” of the case.
The circular, accessed by The Quint, says that if any newspaper doesn’t then publish these “correct facts”, this matter should be brought to the notice of the additional chief secretary of the UP government’s information and PR department— Navneet Sehgal. The circular has been written by Sehgal, and sent to all the district information officers in the state.
The circular was sent on 5 August, incidentally the same day that BJP leader Shrikant Tyagi’s video abusing and arguing with a woman inside a Noida housing society went viral.