Guwahati: The Centre has spent around 1700 Crore on advertisements through print and electronic media.
While responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur said the government has committed Rs 1,698.98 crore for advertisements in print and electronic media from 2018-19 to 2020-21.
‘The primary purpose of government advertising, including print, electronic, and outdoor media, is to increase awareness of government policies and initiatives among the target beneficiaries, especially the population living in far-flung and rural places,’ he wrote. According to the ministry’s data, the government spent a total of Rs 826.5 crore on newspaper advertisements. In 2020-21, Rs 118.59 crore was spent on ads in 6,085 newspapers, Rs 200 crore in 5,365 newspapers in 2019-20, and Rs 507.9 crore in 6,119 newspapers in 2018-19, according to the report.
It may be mentioned that the government spent a total of Rs 193.52 crore in the last three years for advisements in electronic media.