Pankaj Pachauri Replaces Khare as PM's Media Advisor

Harish Khare, Media Advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, resigned suddenly today shortly after television journalist Pankaj Pachauri was appointed as Communication Advisor.

65-year-old Khare, formerly a senior journalist with The Hindu, who was appointed Media Advisor to Singh in June, 2009, submitted his resignation but declined to give reasons for it.

Pachauri, who was a journalist with NDTV India, was earlier in the day appointed as Communication Advisor in the PMO and he would report to Pulok Chatterjee, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Official sources said bringing Pachauri into the PMO was part of efforts to create a nucleus for better communication of Prime Minister's views and image.

A former journalist, Khare told PTI that he has sent his resignation to the Prime Minister and thanked him for the opportunity to work under him.

"I want to rediscover the joys of being a reporter," he said adding he wants to go back to journalism.

Before joining the PMO in June 2009, Khare was senior Associate Editor and Chief of Bureau with The Hindu in New Delhi and earlier Resident Editor of The Times of India in Ahmedabad. As media advisor, he held the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.

The PMO announcement on Pachauri's appointment said he will advise on communicating the government's programmes, policies and achievements to the media and the public at large, particularly using the electronic, print and new and social media.

Pachauri had earlier had stints with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in London and with India Today.