Rajesh Malhotra on Wednesday assumed charge as principal director general of the Press Information Bureau (PIB). Malhotra succeeded Satyendra Prakash who was superannuated on Wednesday.

An Indian Information Service (IIS) officer of the 1989 batch, Malhotra is now the principal spokesperson of the government of India. Since January, 2018, he was working with the Ministry of Finance as its official spokesperson.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, he effectively steered the media and communication policy in the Ministry of Finance in sync with various AatmaNirbhar Bharat Packages announced by the government to give relief to people.

Malhotra has over 32 years of operational experience in planning and implementation of Media & Communication strategies for various Central Government Ministries/ Departments including Finance, Company Affairs, Agriculture, and Communications & IT.

He was associated with the Election Commission of India as in-charge of media & communication for 21 years (1996-2017), thereby planning and implementing media & communication strategies during six General Elections to the Lok Sabha, along with several State Assembly polls and Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections.

As a spokesperson, Malhotra has the experience of successfully establishing ‘two-way’ communication channels between the Government and the media. He has been successfully managing crisis situations during his varied assignments. He has a wide experience in coordinating media coverage for International Conferences and events as part of various Ministerial delegations from India.

Malhotra holds a post-graduate diploma in business management from IMT, Ghaziabad, and a post-graduate diploma in media laws from NALSAR, Hyderabad.

He has also been a part of the short-term course on Public Policy Analysis from University of California; Media Management & Strategies at Thomson Foundation, UK; and the Programme on ‘Marketing: The Winning Concepts & Practices’ organised by IIM Lucknow at New Delhi.

He is also a fellow member of Institute of Company Secretaries of India and holds a degree in Law.