Central Bureau of Communication
India's bureau under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, formed in December 2017 by merging the DAVP, Directorate of Field Publicity and Song & Drama Division, renamed in 2022. It runs 23 regional and 148 field offices, and co-produced Krish, Trish and Baltiboy: Bharat Hain Hum.
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- Established
- 2017
- Location
- New Delhi, India
- Country
- India
- Parent ministry
- Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India
- Formed
- 8 December 2017, as the Bureau of Outreach and Communication; renamed Central Bureau of Communication in June 2022
- Created from
- Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP), and Song & Drama Division (S&DD)
- Field network
- 23 regional offices and 148 field offices
- Mandate
- 360-degree communication solutions for government bodies — advertising, audio-visual, exhibitions, outdoor, digital and interpersonal field outreach — plus advising the government on media strategy
- Notable production
- Co-producer, with Graphiti Studios, of the animated series "Krish, Trish and Baltiboy: Bharat Hain Hum" (2023)
The Central Bureau of Communication (CBC) is the outreach wing of India’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting: the ministry’s nodal body for taking government policies and programmes to the public through advertising, field publicity, exhibitions and folk-media performances (ThePrint; MIB induction material). It was created on 8 December 2017 by merging three older media units — the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), the Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP) and the Song & Drama Division — into a single body first called the Bureau of Outreach and Communication, then renamed the Central Bureau of Communication in June 2022 (ANI via LatestLY).
The bureau’s distinctive feature is its physical reach: 23 regional offices and 148 field offices, built for face-to-face communication in rural and semi-urban India rather than media buying alone (ThePrint). In 2023 it stepped outside that role, co-producing the animated series “Krish, Trish and Baltiboy: Bharat Hain Hum” with Graphiti Studios — a move the I&B Secretary framed as the bureau’s first attempt at earning revenue rather than merely spending it (The Hindu).
Three media units, one bureau
The merger the bureau rests on happened on 8 December 2017, when the I&B Ministry folded the DAVP, the Directorate of Field Publicity and the Song & Drama Division into one integrated body, the Bureau of Outreach and Communication (ANI via LatestLY). In June 2022 a gazette notification — signed by joint secretary C. Senthil Rajan, per ThePrint — gave that body a single, uniform name at every level: “Central Bureau of Communication” at headquarters, zonal, regional and field offices alike (ThePrint; ANI via LatestLY). The stated reason was “maintaining uniformity and streamlining” the vocabulary across central and regional divisions, and ministry sources stressed the structure itself was unchanged (ThePrint). Speaking to The Daily Jagran, the bureau’s Principal Director-General Satyendra Prakash tied the move to the government’s “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance” doctrine, and described how the bureau still reaches places with no direct media dialogue through folk songs, street plays, public meetings and exhibitions (The Daily Jagran).
What the bureau does: 360-degree communication
The ministry describes the CBC’s job as providing “360 degrees communication solutions” to government bodies, and acting as the government’s adviser on media strategy (MIB). Its mandate: branding the government as the “prime facilitator of people’s empowerment” via print, audio-visual, exhibitions, outdoor and new media (MIB). The physical stat behind it — 23 regional offices and 148 field offices, independently confirmed by ThePrint — is why the bureau’s work is weighted toward field publicity rather than metropolitan media buying (ThePrint). Three divisions do the work: the Advertising & Visual Communication Division (the old DAVP) as the nodal arm for scheme publicity; a Folk Communication Division using drama, dance-drama, puppetry, ballets, operas and folk recitals for interpersonal outreach; and a Field Communication Division for direct rural outreach, including local-language Special Outreach Programmes with state governments and local bodies (MIB induction material). Alongside the Press Information Bureau — the ministry’s nodal agency for the print and electronic press — the CBC implements the national “Development Communication & Information Dissemination” scheme (MIB induction material).
| Division | What it does | Descended from |
|---|---|---|
| Advertising & Visual Communication Division | Nodal division for disseminating information about schemes and policies through print, audio-visual, outdoor, digital and new media (MIB induction material) | Erstwhile DAVP (labelled as such on the ministry’s page) |
| Folk Communication Division | Interpersonal communication through live media — drama, dance-drama, puppetry, ballets, operas, folk and traditional recitals (MIB induction material) | The Song & Drama Division (structural interpretation — see openItems) |
| Field Communication Division | Direct, interpersonal programmes in rural and semi-urban areas; ground activation and Special Outreach Programmes in the local language (MIB induction material) | The Directorate of Field Publicity (structural interpretation — see openItems) |
An expenditure body turns producer: the Bharat Hain Hum co-production
On 11 October 2023, Union Minister Anurag Thakur launched the trailer of KTB–Bharat Hain Hum, produced by the Central Bureau of Communication and Graphiti Studios: 52 episodes of 11 minutes each, dramatizing the 1500s–1947 freedom struggle, created by Munjal Shroff and Tilakraj Shetty (The Hindu). Doordarshan, Netflix and Amazon Prime telecast it simultaneously in 12 Indian languages, with dubs in French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean; the Minister announced it would be shown to all parliamentarians, with a stated focus on women and tribal freedom fighters (The Hindu). What makes it institutionally notable is I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra’s remark at the launch: it was the first time the CBC, “an expenditure body,” was seeking to earn revenue (The Hindu). Season 2 launched at the International Film Festival of India in Goa on 23 November 2024, with actor Nagarjuna at the event; it streams on Prasar Bharati’s Waves platform and spotlights fighters including Wazir Ram Singh Pathania of Himachal Pradesh and Birsa Munda of Jharkhand (The Tribune).
Frequently asked questions
When was the Central Bureau of Communication formed? It was set up on 8 December 2017, when the I&B Ministry merged the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity, the Directorate of Field Publicity and the Song & Drama Division into one body — first named the Bureau of Outreach and Communication, then renamed the Central Bureau of Communication by a June 2022 gazette notification.
Why was it renamed in 2022? The ministry said the rename was to bring uniformity of nomenclature across headquarters, zonal, regional and field offices, which had previously carried different names. Ministry sources stressed the organizational structure itself did not change — only the naming, signed off in a notification by joint secretary C. Senthil Rajan.
How is the CBC different from the Press Information Bureau? Both are I&B Ministry media units with split jobs: the PIB is the nodal agency for the print and electronic press — the interface between government and media — while the CBC handles outreach: advertising, field publicity, exhibitions and folk communication. With the New Media Wing, they implement the national Development Communication & Information Dissemination scheme.
What was the bureau’s role in “Krish, Trish and Baltiboy: Bharat Hain Hum”? The CBC co-produced the animated series with Graphiti Studios: 52 episodes of 11 minutes dramatizing lesser-known freedom fighters from the 1500s to 1947, telecast simultaneously on Doordarshan, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra called it the bureau’s first revenue-seeking production — a departure for what had been purely an expenditure body.
What this profile does not claim
- It does not accept the Daily Jagran interview’s phrasing that the three units were “merged … into the Central Bureau of Communication (CBC) on 14 June 2022”; it follows the ministry, ANI and ThePrint — integration on 8 December 2017, renaming in June 2022 (discrepancy logged in openItems).
- It gives no budget or expenditure figure for the bureau; no full-read source verified one.
- It names no current head of the bureau; the quoted officials — Principal DG Satyendra Prakash and I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra — held their posts at the time of the 2022–2023 reports.
- It does not cite the 2023 PIB press release on the KTB trailer launch (PRID 1966550); it returned HTTP 403 and was not read, so the co-production rests on The Hindu and The Tribune.
- It does not carry the bureau’s story back into the DAVP era; coverage starts at the 2017 formation.
- It does not assert a headquarters building; the Soochna Bhawan detail appeared only in a tertiary lead index and was not verified.
Timeline
- 2017-12-08
- The Bureau of Outreach and Communication is set up by integrating the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity, the Directorate of Field Publicity, and the Song & Drama Division of the Information & Broadcasting Ministry.
- 2022-06
- A gazette notification renames the Bureau of Outreach and Communication as the Central Bureau of Communication, with the new name applied at headquarters, zonal, regional and field levels.
- 2023-10-11
- Union Minister Anurag Thakur launches the trailer of "KTB–Bharat Hain Hum," produced by the Central Bureau of Communication and Graphiti Studios — the bureau's first revenue-seeking co-production.
- 2023-10-15
- The first season begins simultaneous telecast on Doordarshan, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in 12 Indian languages.
- 2024-11-23
- The second season is launched at the International Film Festival of India in Goa, with actor Nagarjuna at the launch event.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The Daily Jagran's interview with the Principal Director-General dates the three-unit merger to 14 June 2022, while ThePrint, ANI and the ministry date the integration to 8 December 2017 and treat June 2022 as a renaming only; this profile follows the ministry's own account.
- The PIB press release on the KTB trailer launch (PRID 1966550) returned HTTP 403 and was not read in full, so it is not cited here; the co-production is verified from The Hindu and The Tribune instead.
- The ministry's pages explicitly label only the advertising division as "erstwhile DAVP"; the folk division's descent from the Song & Drama Division and the field division's descent from the Directorate of Field Publicity follow the bureau's structure and the units' historic functions, and are flagged here as interpretation rather than explicit ministry statements.
- The named officials in this profile — Principal Director-General Satyendra Prakash (2022 interview) and I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra (2023 remark) — held their posts at the time of the cited reports; current incumbents were not verified from any full-read source.
- No budget or expenditure figure for the bureau was verified from a full-read source, so none is published here.
Sources
8 sources (4 tier 1, 2 tier 2, 2 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
Built from eight sources read in full: four tier1 (ThePrint, the ANI wire, The Hindu, The Tribune), two tier2 (The Daily Jagran — an on-record interview with the bureau's Principal Director-General — and the media-industry trade publication BestMediaInfo), and two first-party government documents (the ministry's May 2025 induction material and its live CBC organizational page), used only for mandate detail that ThePrint independently corroborates. The 2023 PIB press release on the KTB trailer launch returned HTTP 403 and was not read, so it is not cited; the co-production is verified instead from The Hindu and The Tribune. Wikipedia was used only as a lead index.
- Supports: The June 2022 renaming via gazette notification (signed by joint secretary C. Senthil Rajan); the 'uniformity and streamlining' rationale; formation in December 2017 by integrating DAVP, the Directorate of Field Publicity and the Song & Drama Division; the '360 degrees communication solutions' mandate; advisory role on media strategy; 23 regional and 148 field outreach bureaus Open original source
- Supports: The gazette notification renaming BOC to CBC; the notified nomenclature at headquarters, zonal and regional levels; the bureau 'set up on December 8, 2017 after the merger of erstwhile media units of I&B Ministry' Open original source
- Supports: CBC as co-producer of KTB–Bharat Hain Hum with Graphiti Studios; the 11 October 2023 trailer launch by Anurag Thakur; 52 episodes of 11 minutes; creators Munjal Shroff and Tilakraj Shetty; Doordarshan/Netflix/Amazon simultaneous telecast; 12 Indian languages plus seven international dubs; I&B Secretary Apurva Chandra's 'expenditure body' seeking revenue remark; over a thousand people working on the series; the parliamentarians screening; the women and tribal freedom-fighter focus; Season 1 and 2 telecast windows Open original source
- Second season of animated series Krish, Trish, and Baltiboy: Bharat Hain Hum launched at IFFI Tier 1Supports: The Season 2 launch at IFFI Goa; 12 Indian and seven international languages reaching 150 countries; streaming on Prasar Bharati's Waves platform; the featured freedom fighters (Taji Dele, Ponge Dele, Wazir Ram Singh Pathania, Birsa Munda); Nagarjuna's participation and remarks Open original source
- Supports: Interview with Principal Director-General Satyendra Prakash on the rename and the Minimum Government, Maximum Governance rationale; BOC as the headquarters-level integrated unit with Regional Outreach Bureau and Field Outreach Bureau at regional/field levels; folk songs, street plays, meetings and exhibitions as outreach methods in areas without direct dialogue — and the disputed 'merged on 14 June 2022' dating, flagged in openItems Open original source
- I&B Ministry renames Bureau of Outreach and Communication to 'Central Bureau of Communication' Tier 2Supports: Independent corroboration of the rename and its uniformity rationale; BOC's constitution by amalgamating DAVP, DFP and the Song and Drama Division; the Regional/Field Outreach Bureau nomenclature at regional and field levels Open original source
- Supports: The seven media units list (PIB item 1, CBC item 2) establishing the CBC–PIB sibling relationship; the Development Communication & Information Dissemination (DCID) umbrella scheme implemented nationally by CBC, PIB and the New Media Wing; PIB as the nodal agency disseminating to print and electronic media; the CBC mandate paragraphs — 360-degree communication, advisory role, 23 regional and 148 field offices, and the functions of its Advertising & Visual Communication, Folk Communication and Field Communication divisions Open original source
- Supports: Corroborating mandate detail: 8 December 2017 formation by integrating DAVP, DFP and the Song & Drama Division; 23 regional and 148 field offices; vehicles of communication (print, audio-visual, exhibitions, outdoor, new media); branding the government as 'prime facilitator of people's empowerment' as the mandate Open original source
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