Mumbai, 26 October, 2026: The Department of Information & Public Relations, through Chhattisgarh Samvad, partnered with India Impact Drive (IID), a creator-led storytelling IP for governments, to take 11 creators 1,000 km across the state. Their ground-up stories crossed 12 million views between 4 and 12 October, with engagement as high as 10% and over 80% positive sentiment.At a glance
• Led by: Government of Chhattisgarh, Department of Information & Public Relations (I&PR), through Chhattisgarh Samvad
• Platform: India Impact Drive (IID), a creator-led storytelling IP for governments
• Chapter: 1, Chhattisgarh
• Route: Raipur to Raigarh, 1,000+ km, September 26 to October 1, 2026
• Creators: 11, with a combined following of 14.6 million
• Results: 12M+ views from 4 to 12 October 2026, engagement as high as 10%, 80%+ positive sentiment
The Government of Chhattisgarh has shown what happens when a state stops scripting creators and starts trusting them. Through India Impact Drive, the I&PR Department put 11 of India’s most-followed creators on one bus for six days, through the state’s cities, industrial belts and forest villages, and let them tell what they saw in their own voice.
The result is one of the most successful government creator campaigns in the country, and a working model other states can follow.
The problem: governments have creators, but not a way to use them
Governments across India now recognise that creators reach young citizens in a way that advertisements and press notes cannot. Very few have worked out how to use them well. The gaps run through the whole chain, from framing a policy for creator engagement, to onboarding agencies, to briefing the influencers themselves.
In practice, the relationship is usually transactional: a script is handed over, a post goes out, an invoice is raised. Tight control over the storytelling makes the content sound like an advertisement to the creator’s own audience, who scroll past it. The creator’s credibility is spent, the message does not land, and the campaign falls short of what it set out to achieve.
The shift: storytelling from the grassroots
The Chhattisgarh I&PR Department chose a different path. With India Impact Drive, creators were given access instead of scripts: a route through places where progress can be seen, time with the people it has changed, and the freedom to report it honestly. For the first time, a state government’s progress story was captured from the ground up by the creators themselves.
What the road revealed
• Raipur and Nava Raipur: a planned capital built for the next generation
• Durg and Bhilai: industry and modern urban life
• Jashpur and Kunkuri: women-led self-help groups, horticulture and forest enterprise
• Raigarh: the energy corridor and the connectivity powering it
Prem met a family whose livelihood was rebuilt through a self-employment scheme. Adarsh Gupta and Manvendra Chauhan profiled women reshaping their villages. Vishal Rattewal returned to areas once cut off by Maoist violence, where schools have reopened and buses run again. Aniket Thakur’s film on the Garbage Cafe in Ambikapur crossed 2.5 million views on its own.
The Impact
• 12 million+ views in the first nine days of posting (4 to 12 October)
• Engagement as high as 10%, well above typical branded and government content
• 80%+ positive sentiment across comments and reactions
“Chhattisgarh’s development story is best told by the people living it. We gave the creators no script; instead, we gave them the chance to travel from village to village and city to city and see the change with their own eyes. Today’s young generation gets its news on mobile, so government communication must reach them there, in their language. Through India Impact Drive, Chhattisgarh has shown that when the story is true, people believe it,” said Umesh Mishra, CEO, Chhattisgarh Samvad.
Governments everywhere are facing a new communication challenge with Gen Z, a generation that is digital-first, quick to tune out official messaging and slow to trust it. India Impact Drive shows a way through: put the government’s story in front of young citizens in a form they actually accept, listen to and share.
With this chapter, Chhattisgarh has set a benchmark for the real use of creators in public communication, moving from transactional posts to stories rooted on the ground.
“Media has moved decisively to digital, and creators are now among the most trusted storytellers for young Indians. Our job is to push for creator-friendly policies and help governments run campaigns that actually capture the story of change, progress and grassroots transformation. The Government of Chhattisgarh trusted creators to find that story on the ground, and in doing so has set a benchmark for every government that wants to be heard by Gen Z,” said Abhijit Sonagara, Director, Adosphere, the company that created India Impact Drive.
India Impact Drive packages creator engagement into a complete storytelling platform for governments. Each chapter is run end to end:
• Creator curation: finance, tech, culture, civic and youth voices matched to the region’s story
• Route design: places where progress can be seen, not just announced
• On-ground production: logistics, permissions and safety for a travelling cohort
• Measurement: reach, engagement and sentiment tracked for every reel
A full chapter can be planned and on the road in six weeks.
Chapter 1 closed in Raipur with a session on social media’s growing role in public communication, joined by 100+ regional creators. Following the Chhattisgarh chapter, several other states have expressed interest in hosting India Impact Drive.
