PTI ensured uninterrupted service to customers with innovative tech solutions, says chairman

Press Trust of India made huge technological strides and created new network solutions for hundreds of staffers working from home to ensure uninterrupted service to its subscribers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the news agency's chairman, Aveek Sarkar, said on Monday.

Press Trust of India made huge technological strides and created new network solutions for hundreds of staffers working from home to ensure uninterrupted service to its subscribers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the news agency's chairman, Aveek Sarkar, said on Monday. Addressing the 72nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of shareholders of PTI, Sarkar noted that by early April, almost all editorial and non-editorial staff were working from home.

"Thanks to innovative solutions and dedication of the IT staff, we did not miss a step even though we were not physically in touch with each other," he said. Editors planned and coordinated news coverage in virtual space, and edited a majority of the content from home before pushing it back into the secure network that delivered the content to the subscribers in exactly the same way it was before the pandemic, Sarkar noted.

Almost every news organisation in the world has had to adapt to the new reality caused by the COVID-19 crisis, and has used technology to come up with tailor-made solutions for their reporters, photographers, editors and other staff members. PTI, the country’s biggest news agency, has almost 500 employees across the country, including a dozen correspondents in various world capitals. In addition, PTI also relies on a vast stringer network that reaches some of the remotest corners of India.

PTI is a not-for-profit, private news cooperative, whose shareholders include publishers of major Indian newspapers. The company is managed by a 16-member Board of Directors, whose chairman is currently Sarkar of Anand Bazar Patrika. At a Board meeting which followed the AGM, the directors elected Dr. R. Lakshmipathy as the vice chairman. He is the Joint Managing Editor of national Tamil daily “Dinamalar” and has been associated with the newspaper industry and newspaper forums for more than 55 years.

He was Chairman of the Audit Bureau of Circulation, President of the Indian Newspaper Society, President of the Indian Language Newspaper Association and Member of the Press Council of India. Dr. Lakshmipathy has a Diploma in Newspaper Management from University of Cardiff, UK. He is an educationist and runs the Marine Engineering, Science College and School at Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

The other directors on the PTI Board are: Vijay Kumar Chopra (Hind Samachar Group of Newspapers), N. Ravi (The Hindu), Viveck Goenka (Indian Express), Riyad Mathew (Malayala Manorama), Hormusji N. Cama (Bombay Samachar), Mahendra Mohan Gupta (Dainik Jagran), K.N. Shanth Kumar (Printers (Mysore) Pvt. Ltd, which publishes the Deccan Herald), Vineet Jain (Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd which owns the Times Group), M.V. Shreyams Kumar (Mathrubhumi Group) and Praveen Someshwar (HT Media Ltd.). In addition, the Board has four independent directors: Prof. Deepak Nayyar, Shyam Saran, Justice(Retd.) R C Lahoti and Jimmy F. Pochkhanawalla.