Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Congress government is on a saving spree since its inception in the state, and is following the ‘no advertisement’ policy.

In a bid to stop the prodigal use of public money, the new government has not released any advertisement for newspapers, television channels and websites so far.

In the last month, the government has taken a number of crucial decisions including farm wavier for about 55 lakh farmers with loans below Rs 2 lakh, hike in Kannya Vivah Sahayta Rashi from Rs 21,000 to Rs 51,000, weekly off to the police personnel, beginning construction of cowsheds at panchayats, (as promised in its poll manifesto), but the state government is doing it all without publishing any advertisement.

Instead, the government is using avenues like official Twitter handles, Facebook pages of Congress party and Directorate of Public Relations (DPR) to advertise their initiatives, which cost no money.

This comes as a stark contrast to the Shivraj Singh Chauhan’s BJP government, which, in its three terms, managed to spend more than Rs 5,000 crore of government funds on advertisements and promotions. On the other hand, the BJP government at the Centre has spent Rs 4,343.26 crore on advertisements and publicity since its inception in May 2014, according to the Bureau of Outreach and Communication (BOC).

Earlier, the Kamal Nath government had announced that it has prohibited the use of chopper, purchase of new cars and air conditions for government officials as well as leaders from government funds. “The government is taking these steps to put to an end to the prodigal use of public money which was rampant during the BJP regime,” said Congress media in-charge Narendra Saluja.

Hours after becoming chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath had signed the orders waiving the crop loans below Rs 2 lakh, and had hiked the amount of Kannya Vivah Sahayta Rashi. As usual, the DPR officials sent a proposal to CM Nath to publicise the move using advertisements in the newspapers and on TV channels, however, Nath rejected the proposal because it was costing Rs 25 crore to the government exchequer.

‘No advertisement’ policy of the state government has dried up the accounts of small newspapers, local news channels and web portals. The media owners in Madhya Pradesh are worried about their future, and some are even on the verge of closing.

The Public Relation Department Minister PC Sharma explained the reason behind the no advertisement policy. He said, “The previous BJP government had spent hundreds of crores just on advertisements, which could have been used to fuel public welfare schemes.”

The Madhya Pradesh has already a debt of Rs 1.86 lakh crore, according to the previous budget report, and the promises the Congress has made in the poll manifesto are likely to cost around Rs 1.50 lakh crore, if fulfilled.

“When the state has a debt of Rs 1.86 lakh crore, how can the government spend hundreds of crore rupees just on advertisements, instead of utilising it for public welfare?” questioned Sharma, adding that the government will change its policy from time to time, and will advertise when it is necessary.

BJP’s expenditure on advertisements

According to the BOC, the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has so far spent Rs 4,343.26 crore on advertisements and publicity through different media platforms.

The previous state government, led by BJP’s CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, had spent no less than union government in the last 15 years of its regime.

In financial year 2016-17, the state government spent Rs 341 crore on advertisements and promotions, of which, Rs 61.49 crore were given to the electronic and print media, while Rs 81.07 crore were spent on the promotion of special events like Narmada Sewa Yatra, Madhya Pradesh Vikas Yatra, Mukhyamatri Radio programme ‘Dil Se’, Ujjain Simhastha, Friends of MP, Deendayal Uppadhyay Shatabdi Varsh, Ekatm Yatra and many more, reveals 2016-17 budget report of DRP.

In 2017-18, till December 1, 2018, the BJP government had spent Rs 222.59 crore on advertisements—Rs 35.62 crore on promotion of special events, and Rs 44 crore on television and newspapers—out of the budget of total Rs 391 crore.

According to the analysis of the previous budget reports of 15 years, on an average, the BJP government has spent more than 5,000 crore government funds on advertisements and promotions.

This data, however, represents only the expenditure via Public Relations Department, which gave advertisements to TV channels, newspapers and websites for promotion of government policies. It does not include the cost of the advertisements which were given by the different departments to the media platforms for the promotion of their new polices and new schemes.

“In the recently concluded election, the BJP has spent Rs 8,000 crore on advertisements, promotions and rallies,” claimed Sharma.

Replying to the allegations of Congress Minister, BJP state spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal claimed that the money government spends on advertisements is as per the allocation in the budget, which is approved in the assembly first. “If Congress was worried about the misuse of the public money and rampant expense on advertisements by the BJP, then why were the Congress leaders quiet in the assembly when the budgets were passed?”

Reacting on the state government’s no advertisement policy, he said, “This is nothing but a show off. Soon, the government will release a series of advertisements, and as per my assumption, it will begin from the last week of January.”