With Shabdarth, the Delhi government will save Rs 15 crore annually that otherwise is paid as commission, an official said. With Shabdarth, the Delhi government will save Rs 15 crore annually that otherwise is paid as commission, an official said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has decided to establish a new agency, called ‘Shabdarth’, to handle its publicity and advertisement campaigns.

A first for the Delhi government, the step has taken a cue from other state governments, which have dedicated agencies handling their campaigns, advertisements and the media.

With Shabdarth, the Delhi government will save Rs 15 crore annually that otherwise is paid as commission, an official said. “Private agencies at present get 15 per cent commission on DAVP rates from the publication concerned,” the official added.

The Delhi government spends Rs 100 crore on publicity annually.

Shabdarth will be set up under the Societies Registration Act 1860. It will serve the Delhi government, corporations, boards, societies and other bodies of Delhi. All advertisements will be released through it. The agency is likely to start working with a loan of Rs 50 lakh to meet its initial expenses.

Justifying the need for the government to have its own agency, an official said for publicity, now the government was totally dependent on private agencies, which deprives the government of 15 per cent discount being offered by publications.

Besides, the official cited the examples of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan — all BJP-ruled states which have their own agencies to release campaigns.

Moreover, the government believes with its own agency, it will be able to provide more choices to the department which wants its ads published. The new agency will generate its own revenue, partly from the commission (5 per cent; the rest 10 per cent will be passed on to the government) it will retain.

With the new agency handling government campaigns, will there be any work for the empanelled agencies with the state government? “In case of lack of capacity or urgency, the Directorate of Information and Publicity, with the approval of the minister-in-charge of the department, may also release advertisements through any of the empanelled agencies,” an official said.

But Devesh Sharma of Sampl Communications Pvt Ltd, a B-category empanelled agency, said the step will hurt the medium-level entrepreneur. “In advertising, it is not just creative work that we do, it’s also a job where intellectuals apply their mind to ensure it fits the needs of clients. Plus, there are pre- and post-publishing errors that needs to be handled. For this, you have to have people who know the technicalities,” Sharma cautioned.

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