PRCAI accredits 18 top class practitioners

The Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) today announced results of India’s first Accreditation Programme in Indian Public Relations (AIPR) for public relations professionals – including young professionals and emerging leaders. 

Announcing the list of 18 public relations professionals who qualified for the first-ever batch of AIPR, PRCAI conferred each one of them with the prestigious AIPR pin. These young professionals will be the torchbearers of the industry as they strive to maintain strong professional and ethical standards, leading the industry. 

Atul Sharma, President, PRCAI said, “At PRCAI, we celebrate, honour and work everyday to forward the vision of our industry – to be more professional, ethical and prosperous. AIPR is our endeavour in that direction, and this is just the beginning. I am very happy for our first batch of accredited professionals, who I am sure will help in this pursuit as they lead this industry into the future. Heartiest congratulations to each one of them. ”The communications industry has an invaluable pool of subject matter experts who are incredible thinkers, strategists, planners, writers and are extremely committed to their profession. AIPR is a platform to recognize such talent and motivate them to continue to upskill to remain relevant in the evolving world of communications and aspire to be the best. PRCAI appreciates the efforts of seasoned veterans who formed the jury and believed in the program and its merits and are supportive mentors to help shape them as effective practitioners,” said, Deeptie Sethi, CEO, PRCAI.

More about the process: The first batch of AIPR participants went through two rigorous sets of testing. The preliminary round of Communications Aptitude Test assessed applicants’ performance on 7 key competency areas. Of the 71 applicants, 46 were shortlisted to appear for the next round - AIPR Final Jury Round, held this spring. While some opted to appear in the Winter Round (November), 29 candidates appeared for AIPR Finals in April as they submitted a Candidate Questionnaire capturing their professional experience and capability profiles and presented the AIPR coveted jury with solutions to PR Case Studies.  

The AIPR Jury, which comprised of leaders of PR Consultancies, Corporate Communications Heads, HR heads and academic experts assessed the presentations based on the frameworks and guidelines provided by the PRCAI accreditation partner, the School of Communications & Reputation.  

Recognising the accredited professionals

Eighteen (18) Professionals across both Levels 1 and 2 received accreditation in this round. Of this, the top 3 at both levels (on the basis of their aggregate performance across various levels) are: 

  • Level 1 candidates (1-5 years of PR Experience)- Sneha Ashok, Adfactors PR topped with highest rank of 67.8%, followed by Aastha Anand from On Purpose with net score of two rounds at 65.2%. In third place, Shruti Vakhariya from Adfactors PR earned 64.7% marks.
  • Level 2 candidates (6-10 years of PR Experience)- Dhun Chhokar, On Purpose was the top scorer with the highest rank of 66.3%, followed by Adfactors PR’s Sweta Mohanty at 63.5% and Aaron Dias finishing at 63.%.

Talking about Accreditation Programme and partnership with PRCAI, Hemant Gaule, Dean of the School of Communications & Reputation(SCoRe) shared, "While conceptualising AIPR, SCoRe looked at global and credible benchmarking benchmarks for individual  competence such as those established by PRSA, CIPR, IABC that elevated the profession in their respective regions. PRCAI is a perfectly equipped to steer this and help elevate PR the profession and its professionals to the next level. The 18 professionals that have been recommended for award of the accreditation excelled on all pillars of competence and will be the role models for others. At the same time, we recognise that this process needs to be an evolving one. The parameters of excellence of reputation science are progressively changing. We will therefore continue to work the PRCAI Accreditation Committee to ensure that the criteria of awarding AIPR we identify and integrated into the process are relevant and exhaustive. The next round, for which professionals can apply in September, will be more robust and comprehensive, & ensure that AIPR will recognise torchbearers of the India PR profession.” concluded Hemant Gaule, Dean of the School of communications & Reputation (SCoRe).”

The 2022 Winter AIPR round, for which professionals can apply in September, will be more robust and comprehensive, recognising the emerging champions of the Indian PR industry.

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