Public Relations Consultants Association of India

Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) is a trade organization that represents India's public relations consultancy sector. It is the summit body for official communications and public relations practices in India. It was formed in October 2001 to grow, represent, and support India's public relations consultancy sector in international practices. It also provides a forum for government, public bodies, industry associations, trade, and others to confer with public relations consultants as a body. It is an internationally recognized organization that offers official membership to all PR practitioners who abide by the basic criteria devised by the association.

Establishment
PRCAI was established on October 4, 2001. On the lines of the Public Relations and Communications Association in the United Kingdom, it was formed and mooted by various public relations firms in India. It is affiliated with the International Consultancy Communications Organization (ICCO) which is an international association for all national communication consultancy organizations headquartered in UK.

Members
Members include professionals from Avian WE, Edelman, Corporate Voice, Weber Shandwick, Genesis BCW, MSL, Archetype, Good Relations India, Ogilvy PR, Ruder Finn, Value 360 Communications, On Purpose, and Adfactors PR, among others.

Managing committee
The current managing and executive committee members of PRCAI are:

1. Atul Sharma, President, PRCAI; CEO - India & Head - Middle East, Ruder Finn

2. Kunal Kishore, Vice President, PRCAI; Founder and Director, Value 360 Communications

3. Deeptie Sethi, CEO, PRCAI; Global Brand and Communications, Specialist

4. Nikhil Dey, CEO, PRCAI; Global Brand and Communications, Specialist

5. National Chair - Growth & Standardization, PRCAI

6. Girish Balachandran, National Chair - Marketing Communication & Global Network, PRCAI

7. Shantanu Gogoi, National Chair - Learning & Thought Leadership, PRCAI

8. Vinit Handa, Secretary, PRCAI

Ethics
The team has devised self-regulatory guidelines on ethics and standards norms. In 2011, PRCAI aligned with European Public Affairs Consultancies Association (EPACA) to formulate norms for government engagement activities to ensure a higher level of transparency. The members, speakers and associates that PRCAI represent belong to corporate firms, agencies, freelance communications professionals, public affairs organizations, Digital PR firms and professional services firms.

Recent achievements
PRCAI has recently released the ‘PRCAI Trends Report 2013’ that is addressed towards issues surrounding the PR industry in India. The report consists of data collected from around 54 PR executives, including CEOs and chairmen from India. This PRCAI report identified growth challenges for 2013 like creating new demand, managing client expectations, hiring new resources, and managing costs.