The Information and Broadcasting ministry is conducting specialised training courses for its officials to help them learn from the experience and expertise of corporates in using the reach of social media for publicity purposes.

The areas in which the government babus are receiving training include the strategy for the use of social media, the display and packaging of content, official sources told PTI.

Two batches of twenty officers have already undergone a two-day course on utilising social media that was conducted last month at the premises of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) here, they said.

"Indian Information Service officials from Joint Secretary level to entry level officers were among those who underwent the training," a senior official who himself attended one of the courses said.

The officials were addressed by professionals from sports channels, media websites and some corporates as part of the courses, the sources said.

With the Lok Sabha elections due in 2014, the government is keen to have a well oiled publicity machinery in place to utilise the platform of the social media and the specialised training courses are a step in that direction.

The recent agitation against corruption led by activist Anna Hazare has amply demonstrated the potential of the social media websites to senior government functionaries.

The I&B ministry has in the recent past tried to make greater use of the social media in its own programmes. In a recent workshop on Community Radio, the I and B ministry had telecast details and videos on five different websites including networking sites Facebook and Twitter.