: With Chief Minister Jayalalithaa at the helm, Chennai Corporation on Saturday started an advertisement drive in civic amenities such as bus shelters with a new catchphrase in Tamil— naadu poatrum naangaandu aatchi; endrum ammavin aatchi. Roughly translated as: Four years of glorious reign; Now, Amma's reign forever)
The earlier catchphrase which was used in advertisement drives in bus shelters has been removed on Kamarajar Salai. "All the bus shelters in the city will carry this new advertisements shortly," said an official.
The previous ad drive was started a few months ago, focussing on growth and governance, without mentioning 'Amma'. “The decision by the civic body to drop the public private partnership (PPP) mode for commissioning of stainless steel bus shelters has led to such a campaign,” said DMK councillor Deva Jawahar.
Under the earlier PPP mode, private entities were permitted to commission bus shelters, and generate advertisement revenue for a period of time. In the first phase, the work to modernise 99 bus shelters, on a build-operate-and-transfer basis, was entrusted with Mumbai-based Laqshya Media Private Limited a few years ago.
The firm was allowed to let out 180 sq. ft. in each of the shelters for advertisements. It was required to pay Rs. 2.4 crore in the first year. Bus shelters would then be handed over to the civic body. After a Supreme Court verdict, Chennai Corporation regained control of all bus shelters from a consortium of private players. Such bus shelters are likely to be used for the advertisement campaign.
