Spreading PM's message to nation cost Rs 8.3 crore

Propagating the prime minister's messages doesn't come cheap, reveals an RTI response. The one-year anniversary message, for instance, cost Rs 8.3 crore, reports Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com. 

The Government of India spent Rs 8.3 crore of the exchequer's money for advertising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Rashtra Ko Sandesh' (message to the nation) through various media on May 26, 2015, when his completed one year in office, as per an RTI response from the Department of Advertising and Visual Publicity Director Ravi Rama Krishna.

The planning and execution of such 'address to the nation' is the sole responsibility of the DAVP, Krishna said in his reply to the RTI query filed by Mumbai-based activist Anil Galgali.

Asked who created the advertisements, Krishna revealed that the campaign content was made by the DAVP and that no outside agency's help was taken.

Responding to a query on who decides when and how the prime minister addresses the nation, the response from the DAVP chief said, 'Whenever need arises, competent officers take the decision based on three parameters -- occasion, importance of the day, and requirement.'

Interestingly, Galgali was denied the same information when this RTI query was addressed to the information and broadcasting ministry, DAVP's parent ministry, on May 26, 2015, the day the advertising blitzkrieg appeared across India.

"Nitesh Jha, deputy director of advertising and visual publicity, gave a haphazard response following which I addressed the same RTI to DAVP Director Ravi Rama Krishna," Galgali told Rediff.com over the phone. Jha in his letter to Galgali just mentioned the URL of the website and department code as '22201'.

This letter from Jha to Galgali was dated July 22, 2015.

Galgali then appealed for the same information to Krishna on July 29, 2015, which was successful. He received the information sought from Krishna on September 3, 2015.

In his response, Krishna also mentioned that the rates for publishing the government advertisements were lower compared to others.

Nevertheless, Galgali maintains that the Rs 8.3 crore spent on disseminating 'Rashtra Ko Sandesh' was quite high and "the benefits for the common man was zero."

Click here (external link) for further details on the advertising campaign.

All the release orders (ROs) listed below were accessed using the navigation path provided by the DAVP Director Krishna and using the 'Display Key' reported in the RTI response by Krishna. Click here (external link) for the RTI response from Krishna, Jha and Galgali.

The DAVP, as per Display Key 22201/13/0011/1516, spent Rs 18,23, 413 on advertising 'Ek Saal Shuruaat Anek' across editions of the Times of India. Click here (external link) for details.

Rs 912,174 was spent on advertising 'One Year of Government' as per Display Key 22201/13/0014/1516 through various Amar Ujala publications. Click here (external link) for details.

Another Rs 1,34,58,901 was spent on advertising 'One Year Of Government' as per Display Key 22201/13/0009/1516 through numerous publication across India which include Sakshi, The Hindu, Hindustan, Hindustan Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Hari Bhoomi, etc which have regional as well as national editions. Click here (external link) for details.

All the three ROs mentioned above from the DAVP website are dated May 25, 2015, a day before the Rashtra Ko Sandesh initiative of the prime minister on May 26, 2015.

Image: Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a public function. Photograph: Atul Yadav/PTI Photo.