ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Information, Broadcasting, National History,Literary Heritage and attached departments had given advertisementsworth Rs 6,111,779,669 to print and electronic media in last four years,Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry told Senate onWednesday.
In a written reply to the question of Senator Muhammad Azam Khan Swati, hesaid the advertisements worth Rs 426,912,654 had been given to print andelectronic media in 2013-14.
Rs 1,095,794,707 billion had been given to both print and electronic mediaduring 2014-15, advertisements worth Rs 2,469,226,193 in 2015-16 and Rs2,119,846,115 in 2016-17.
The minister stated that a media cell under the supervision of PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz was operating from PM Houseto control the allocation of government advertisements beyond thejurisdiction of Ministry of Information.
“The previous federal government increased its spending for the productionof advertisements from Rs 42.6 crores in 2013-14 to Rs 2.1 billion in2016-17 and a total of Rs 6.1 billion was spent in these 4 years,” theminister observed.
Year-wise breakdown of govt ads during PML-N regime
He said the advertising agencies were assigned media campaigns consideringtheir creative/productive capabilities and skills.
The advertising agencies were appointed on the panel of Ministry ofInformation, Broadcasting, National History & Literary Heritage through anopen and transparent competition process, the reply added, informing thatall enlisted agencies were invited to participate in the competitionprocess as per Press Information Department (PID) guidelines forappointment of advertising agencies.