Daulat Rahman/Guwahati

Till some years ago, the North Eastern region was in the headlines for insurgency and other wrong reasons. Even at that time, a few individuals worked relentlessly to project the right image of the region; Assam’s Nurul Islam Laskar is one of them.

Nurul Laskar has been playing a key role in projecting a more realistic picture of the North East to the rest of India through the public relations (PR) and communication industry for five decades.

Starting his career at the State Bank of India (SBI), where he rose to the position of Chief Manager (Public Relations & Community Services), Laskar set up the first PR agency in North East India, CABSFORD. Today at 75, Laskar’s zeal for promoting the image of Assam and other NE States remains intact.

The Public Relations Council of India (PRCI) recently honoured Laskar with the 'Chanakya Award for 'Integral Public Relations'. The award was presented by Union Minister of State for Power & Renewable Energy Shripad Yesso Naik at the 18th Global Communication Conclave at Mangaluru in Karnataka.

Nurul Islam Laskar receiving Chanakya Award for Integral Public Relations

The Chanakya award is the highest in the field of PR in India and it is given to PR practitioners for outstanding achievement.

Laskar shared his experiences with Awaz-the voice in a special interview. Below are excerpts from the conversation with Daulat Rahman:

You started Public Relations at a time when many people and corporations did not understand PR. How challenging was your journey?  How did you overcome these?

My foray into public relations began in the seventies when most government departments or private business houses didn’t have a public relations department or a PRO. I joined the SBI as a Probationary Officer in 1972 and in the initial years, I remained glued to core banking work such as deposits, loans, remittances, etc.

In 1975, SBI deputed me to do a month-long certificate course on public relations at the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong. This course gave me a lot of new ideas – how public relations can be gainfully employed to boost the image of an organization; different activities that can be taken up for PR, and gains that may come to an organization because of good PR.

At that time, SBI had also set up a new department called “Innovative Banking” and I was made in charge of the same at the Bank’s Regional Office in Shillong. This department started taking up many projects which were mostly PR activities. However, most of these works were not directly related to core banking activities, so most other seniors and colleagues looked at my work with a little skepticism. Many thought I was like the joker in a circus. But soon my work started producing results that changed their outlook and I sort of became a hero with my fellow workers.

Nurul Islam Laskar, Branch Manager, SBI with Mother Teresa and his collegueas

Bank’s news started getting headlines in the newspapers, All India Radio came to record an interview of the Bank Chief, and the Bank had certainly started to make an image change-over. Many other department heads still thought that I was being paid a salary for doing useless work. I took them head-on. I collected information about all the good work their department was doing and how this benefited the public. I got these stories published in newspapers, magazines, and radio – there was no TV back then. Soon, the skeptics turned into my admirers and fans. There was no looking back after that. 

How did you get attracted to PR in the early stage of life?

Right from my school days, I was a voracious reader. We lived in Shillong and the State Central Library was a stone’s throw from our house. After returning from school and after eating my food I rushed to the Library to read books, magazines, and newspapers, many of which were foreign publications. From these readings, I got my first ideas about public relations and tried to use some of the PR tactics, in my way, to boost my image! I would also always keep an eye on public figures and focus on how they spoke and conducted themselves in public, and endeared themselves to the masses.

What changes have you seen in the field from your experience? Is PR a good career option?

When I jumped into the world of PR, it was in a nascent industry in India. Today, PR is one of the largest industries in the country. There is hardly any government department, business house, educational institution, bank, insurance and financial institution, hospital, FMCG, telecom service provider, or airline that does not have a PR set up. There is a sea-change in PR practices in 50 years. Earlier, PR focussed more on sales promotion, business growth, profits, and media management. Today, PR goes much beyond that. Its prime concern is image building, making optimum use of social media, artificial intelligence, and the internet, PR is extremely HiFi today. The management expects fast and measurable performance from its PR setup. Newer concepts such as crisis management, damage control, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are priority areas in the PR exercise.

Nurul Islam Laskar with Ms Sweezal Maria Furtdo, Miss Global India 2024

Changes are happening at a rapid pace in the world of PR today. While no professional courses were available in the past, today many colleges and universities are offering graduate and post-graduate courses in PR giving the profession very structured and focused goals to achieve. PR undoubtedly provides ample opportunities for the youth of the country to take up the challenges that lie in PR and ancillary activities such as event management, corporate gifting, video and filmmaking, ad campaigns, publicity through print and electronic media, and so on.

Many people have a wrong perception of PR. They perceive that PR is an "oiling" exercise. What is the perfect PR?

There is no doubt that a large section of society doesn’t exactly know what PR is or they have misconceptions about it. When I started my PR firm, it was a tough challenge to make prospective clients understand the importance or significance of PR. Many times they realized this in a roundabout way. For instance, one hospital in Guwahati found its image nosedive after a patient died in “questionable circumstances.” They approached us to salvage its reputation. We drew up an action plan, it worked, and very soon the hospital was able to get over the crisis, and their business and its reputation were restored. Then they became our regular clients.

There are dividing lines between publicity, marketing, sales, liaison, and lobbying. Good PR depends on truth and there is no need for “oiling” anywhere! Good PR has one focus and that is “image building.” Any individual or organization that has a good image will not only do good business but also earn the goodwill of the people and that is the most valuable asset for growth.

Recently you have bagged the prestigious Chanakya Award. What does this award mean to you at this stage of your life?

Laskar: It means a lot. It's been almost five decades that I have been in public relations, sometimes indirectly in the beginning years and more actively in subsequent years. I have seen public relations from various angles and at various transitional times. I have thoroughly enjoyed my work all these years and that in itself is a big reward for me. But now that I was considered for the national-level Chanakya Award for “Integral Public Relations,” it is almost like a dream come true.

Nurul Islam Laskar with his wife after receiving the award

I am grateful to the Almighty for such recognition. I was also reassured that all the time and energy I gave to the practice and promotion of public relations all these years did not go to waste, the stakeholders have noted it. I also remembered one by one, all my mentors, colleagues, associates, friends, and well-wishers who contributed in many ways and helped me excel in my work. This award has given me a new lease of life, and new enthusiasm to do more and do better in the future. I am 75 now and my wife is a dementia patient. Life is tough for me as of now. But this award has proved that the sun ultimately shines even if the sky is covered with clouds for a long time.

Public relations has given me rich dividends and now I want to give it back to the profession. Earlier I was able to give a lot of time to PR related work but ever since my wife was diagnosed with dementia during the pandemic, I’m not in a position to give a lot of time because I’m the principal caregiver to my wife.

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Nevertheless, in 2021 with the support extended by fellow PR professionals, we established the Guwahati Chapter of the PRCI and we plan to boost the skills of PR professionals in the North East region by taking up many programmes through PRCI. In my capacity, I would like to write a few more books on PR, continue teaching PR in colleges and universities, and most importantly identify the prospective talents, mentor and train them so that they may take up PR as their future profession and excel in it.