NewDelhi: The average daily advertising spend of the NDA government in print and electronic media over the last three years is a little over double that of the previous UPA government’s two terms, an RTI inquiry revealed.
The NDA government spent Rs 3,214.7 crore on print and electronic advertisement in the last three years, incurring Rs 3.21 crore in daily expenses. The erstwhile UPA regime spent a total of Rs 2658.24 crore in 10 years on publicity, the daily average being Rs 1.45 crore.
Information provided by the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) lists total expenditure incurred by the government on advertisement in various media during the period of 2004-2017.
The petition filed by activist Arjun Parmar revealed that the BJP-led Union government spent a total of Rs 3,529 crore in advertising during the first 1,000 days of its tenure.
The current government’s electronic media advertising expenses during 2014-2017 is Rs 1,585 crore, which is 80 per cent more than what was spent during 2010-2014 when the UPA was in power.
For print advertising, the Centre has shelled out Rs 1,630 crore in the last three years. When compared to UPA-I and UPA-II, NDA has already spent 50 per cent of the amount its predecessor did during its decade-long rule.
The NDA government has also been spending significantly higher in outdoor publicity. It has spent Rs 315 crore in between 2014-2017, whereas the UPA regime had disbursed Rs 202 crore for the same during 2010-2014.
Also noteworthy is the fact that advertising expense of the Congress-led UPA government spiked in 2013, going to Rs 500 crore for electronic advertising, up from Rs 161 crore in 2012. Its print expenditure witnessed a similar jump, to Rs 537 crore in 2013 from Rs 403 crore in 2012. This sudden boost in the UPA’s advertising campaign came ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
Bureau Report
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