Panaji, Jun 30 (IANS): With Goa Assembly polls slated for early next year, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday directed all the Public Relations Officers (PROs) to counter adverse publicity against the state government in the mainstream and social media.

Sawant was addressing a workshop of government PROs at the state Secretariat on Wednesday.

"PROs and heads of government departments should focus on proper planning to generate positive content for news to counter the adverse publicity appearing in the mainstream media i.e. print, electronic and social media platform," a statement said.

"This endeavour will help substantially to highlight the achievements and initiatives of the government and develop its positive image in next six months in right perspective," said the statement quoting the Chief Minister.

"PROs should ensure that the information required to issue clarification or rebuttal to counter the criticism against the government needs to be published very next day instead of publishing the same after eight days," it added.