Centre spent Rs 8 crore on PM Narendra Modi's open letter on government's 1st anniversary

NEW DELHI: The government spent over Rs 8 crore on advertisements in one day to mark its first anniversary. In response to an RTI application, the I&B ministry disclosed that it spent Rs 8.29 crore on publicizing PM Narendra Modi's open letter on May 26, 2015 to celebrate one year of the NDA government.

The RTI plea was filed by Mumbai-based Anil Galgali who sought to know the amount spent on Modi's message. In total, 4,094 advertisements were published incurring an expense of Rs 8.29 crore.

The advertisements were created by the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), a department under the I&B ministry.

Interestingly, Galgali was stonewalled by the DAVP which initially said the information was available on its website without answering the specific query related to ad spend on May 26. Galgali filed an appeal to receive data on actual expenditure by the department.

Asked about the criteria for the PM to address the public, the DAVP said decisions were taken on the basis of three parameters: occasion, significance of the day and requirement.

"The amount spent is high and the benefits for common man are zero,'' said Galgali.

The PM wrote an open letter that was published in major dailies elaborating on how the NDA government had "rejuvenated" a languishing economy and had built on "stable, policy-driven proactive governance". He talked about various issues - from setting up IITs, IIMs and AIIMS to Swachh Bharat Mission and even invited suggestions from people.