NEW DELHI – The Narendra Modi government has spent ₹4,343 crore onpublicity since it came to power in May 2014, an agency under the Ministryof Information and Broadcasting has said in reply to an Right toInformation (RTI) query.
The expenditure was incurred on advertisements in the print and electronicmedia as well as outdoor publicity, the Central government agency said inresponse to the application filed by city-based RTI activist Anil Galgali.
The Bureau of Outreach Communication under the Ministry said the governmentspent ₹4,343.26 crore on advertising its programmes across media platforms.
This included ₹1732.15 crore on advertisements in the print media (fromJune 1, 2014, to December 7, 2017) and ₹2079.87 crore in the electronicmedia (from June 1, 2014, to March 31, 2018). A sum of ₹531.24 crore wasspent on outdoor publicity (June 2014 to January 2018), it said.
Tapan Sutradhar, Financial Advisor, Bureau of Outreach Communication,provided expenditure details on publicity campaigns from June 2014.
“Print media included newspapers, magazines, while electronic media coveredTV, Internet, radio, digital cinema, SMSs etc. Outdoor publicity includedposters, banners, digital panels, hoardings, railway tickets etc,” thereply stated.
The bureau was formed after merging three media units of the I&B Ministryto ensure “credible, consistent and clear communication” by various wingsof the government across media platforms.