[dropcap color=”#008040″ boxed=”yes” boxed_radius=”8px” class=”” id=””]A[/dropcap]n RTI reply shows that AAP-led Delhi Government had pumped an exorbitant amount of more than ₹14.45 crores ($2.172 million) in just three months – February 10 to May 11, 2016, in newspapers. This unjustifiable amount in just three months by Arvind Kejriwal’s Government is only for the newspaper advertisements and it is expected the Delhi Government must have spent an equal (or more) value for television advertisements, apart from radio spots and web journals.
The RTI reply was given to Advocate Aman Parwar. But the reply is only given regarding the newspaper advertisement expenditure during February 10, 2016, to May 11, 2016. Among the 20 newspaper which received ₹14,45,52,021 from the Kejriwal government’s largesse, the highest money was pumped to Times of India. The Times of India and its Hindi newspaper Nav Bharat Times received ₹3,21,78,231 and Hindustan Times and its Hindi newspaper Hindustan received ₹2,60,97,919 during this short span of three months for the publicity of Kejriwal government.
The most interesting thing about this is that the Delhi Government pumped advertisements in Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Goa and Karnataka-based newspapers, which often published full page advertisements showing Chief Minister Kejriwal’s face and dramatic appeals.
Among the Hindi newspapers, Dainik Bhaskar got a major amount of more than ₹2.70 crores ($0.406 million) worth of advertisements from the AAP Government. Amar Ujala also got their pound of flesh of ₹1.52 crore ($0.228 million). Somehow noted newspaper Dainik Jagaran’s name does not figure in the Delhi Government’s advertisement list during this period. English newspapers ‘The Hindu’ and ‘Pioneer’ also did not get any ads in Kejriwal’s advertisement slots during this period.
If Kejriwal government has pumped ₹14.45 crores ($2.172 million) in newspapers, advertisement agencies say that the figures would be equal or more in television channels. The Delhi government is also bombarding advertisements in all radio channels and the agencies assess, the figure would be around ₹5 crores ($0.752 million) during the period. Apart from this advertisement extravaganza, AAP Government’s publicity advertisements are visible in every nook and corner of the city. According to a reliable Delhi Government official, the total advertisement expenditure must be around ₹45 crores ($6.764 million) during this period including the huge hoardings in the city.
The RTI response letter from the Directorate of Information, GNCTD is shown below:
Note:
1. The conversion rate used in this article is 1 USD = 66.53 Rupees.
2. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
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Kejriwal B party of Congress has nothing to say against Congress leadership who ruled Delhi for 15 yrs . Delhi people are fools never learned who to elect the right candidate to rule them.