Missing Pak girl's photo used to advertise flagship schemes in Rajasthan - Indian Express
In an embarrassing admission of negligence, the state government on Thursday ordered a probe into the use of a missing Pakistani girl's photograph to advertise for nearly two years its flagship schemes to protect the girl child.
The Directorate of Information and Public Relations has also drafted out a notification asking all government departments to strictly use photos taken by their own photographers or by the directorate and refrain from picking pictures from the Internet without verifying its authenticity.
The move came after a leading vernacular daily reported the use of a missing Pakistani girl's photo to advertise schemes to protect the girl child — such as 'Betiyan Anmol Hain' — through hoardings across the state. The photo was also used in the May edition of DIPR's monthly magazine, Sujas.
The report claimed that the photo used is that of a Pakistani Hindu girl who went missing three years ago; her picture was circulated as part of a missing report and is available on the Internet.
DIPR officials said they had sourced the photo from the Department of Women and Child Development and the concerned department has now ordered a probe into how this picture was picked up. Officials said that the relevant hoardings have been removed.
"It is embarrassing to have used a missing girl's photo in the flagship schemes and we are issuing a notification to all departments to use their own pictures or ask the DIPR for photos, but strictly not use pictures taken off the net without checking its background and authenticity," said a senior DIPR official.
Rekha Gupta, the director of the department, who in her statement to the vernacular daily had maintained that she had recently been posted in the department, was unavailable for a comment.
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