KHATTAR GOVT SPENT ₹190CR ON ADVERTISING IN TWO YEARS

ACTIVIST WHO FILED THE RTI SAID INITIALLY THE PUBLIC RELATIONS DEPT RETURNED HIS APPLICATION WITHOUT PROVIDING ANY INFO

ROHTAK: In just two years of its regime in Haryana, the BJP gov ernment led by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar has spent an amount of ₹190 crore on adver tising itself.

This information was provided by the department of informa tion, public relations and lan guage under a Right to Informa tion (RTI) application filed by Rohtak-based activist and coordi nator of Haryana Soochna Adhikar Manch, Subhash.

According to the information the state government paid ₹173 crore to print media and ₹11.5 crore to electronic media between October 20, 2014 and Jan uary 4, 2017 for advertisements.

Besides, the government spent ₹5.5 crore on flax boards to publi cise its schemes and events, such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Pra vasi Haryana Divas, Haryana Summit, Haryana Swarna Jay anti etc. The RTI applicant said the information, public relations and languages department had at first returned his application without providing any informa tion. He received the information only when he filed the same RTI through the chief secretary’s office. The reply furnished by the department also highlighted lack of coordination and information within the departments.

While the first reply received on April 6 from exhibition officer revealed that the department did not take help from any outsour cing agency to create flax boards for advertisements, another reply furnished on May 2 by art executive of the same department said that the work was done through many empaneled firms on L-1 rate.