‘Delhi govt ads shouldn’t promote interests of ruling party’

Ensure advertisements are presented in an objective and fair manner, directs a circular

Advertisements issued by the Delhi government shouldn’t promote “political interests” of the ruling party, a new State directive has said. The directive comes days after Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal ordered recovery of ₹97 crore spent on publicity from the AAP.

A circular issued on April 13 by the Directorate of Information and Publicity of the Delhi government directed all department heads to ensure that advertisements are presented in an “objective and fair” manner.

Break-up of cost

“...Besides, advertisements should not be directed at promoting political interests of the ruling party,” Special Director (Information and Publicity) Sandeep Mishra said in the circular.

It also asked department heads to give a break-up of an advertisement campaign’s cost while seeking final approval for design or script from the competent authority.

Campaign assessment

The circular stated that in case of a large volume of advertisement campaigns, assessment of such campaigns will be “necessary” at a later stage. The circular added that factors including identification of the target audience or visibility of a media outlet (print, electronic and outdoor) for effectiveness of the advertisement campaign should be taken care of by the department concerned while selecting the media outlet.

The L-G had last month ordered recovery of ₹97 crore allegedly “splurged” by the government on advertisements in violation of the Supreme Court’s guidelines. He had also ordered a probe into spendings on advertisements promoting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his party, and asked the Chief Secretary to fix responsibility.

CAG report

In its report, the CAG had recently said the AAP government had spent ₹29 crore in releasing advertisements outside Delhi, which was “beyond its responsibility”.