A day after The Hindu reported that the State had roped in private firms to endorse its policies and neutralise negative feedback on social media, the government issued a clarification saying that its intention was only to spread information about its schemes.
The Maharashtra Directorate General of Information and Public Relations (DGIPR), which issued the clarification, said the appointment of firms was one of the measures adopted by the government to ensure people are made aware of its schemes. “It is improper to relate the move with the criticism on social media,” the clarification said.
The clarification, however, does not mention the reason why the firms have been entrusted tasks such as “tracking social media networks for keywords related to business and responding to them in a way that initiates positive conversations; tracking conversations, links and blogs about programmes and issues/topics relating to business; tracking sentiments: positive, neutral or negative; using effective third party tools to track the progress of each network; reporting any discrepancy in sentiments; channelising and drafting a plan to neutralise negative sentiments.”
The clarification claimed that it was just a routine process to appoint new panel comprising advertising firms to publicise government policies in print, radio and audio-visual mediums. The note said, “The selection is based on professional work required in these mediums. It is a routine process.”
Rajendra Joshi, a former member on the DGIPR panel, said the government had framed tender conditions in such a way that only big advertising firms could be nominated to the panel.
₹200-crore budget
Mr. Joshi said, “A major ad firm would approach the government only if it gets good returns. The budget has risen manifold because of the costs quoted for producing a documentary or a jingle. By making it a centralised process, certain individuals in the Mantralaya will take the call on what and how to advertise.” Mr. Joshi said the DGIPR’s total budget for the next two years may cross the ₹200-crore mark.
The government, however, denied the claim. “This is only the panel and that does not mean work order has been given.”