Centre spent over Rs 3,800 crore on publicity of govt schemes

The central government has spent over Rs 3,800 crore on the publicity of government schemes in the last three years, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.

In reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said Bureau of Outreach and Communication, a media unit under the ministry, uses print, electronic and outdoor media as well as direct communication through printed materials for publicising policies and programmes of the government to create awareness among the people.

Javadekar also gave the details of expenditure incurred on creating awareness for the schemes -- Rs 1,280.07 crore in 2016-17, Rs 1328.06 crore in 2017-18 and Rs 1195.94 crore in 2018-19.

The minister also gave a year-wise break-up of the expenditure on publicity through different media.

In 2016-17, Rs 468.53 crore was spent on publicity through print media, Rs 609.14 crore on audio-visual, Rs 186.59 crore on outdoor publicity and Rs 15.81 crore on printed publicity, he said.

In 2017-18, Rs 636.09 crore was spent on print media, Rs 468.93 crore on audio visual, Rs 208.55 crore on outdoor publicity and Rs 14.49 crore on printed publicity, he said.

In 2018-19, Rs 429.55 crore was spent on print media, Rs 514.29 on audio visual, Rs 235.33 crore on outdoor publicity and 16.77 crore on printed publicity, Javadekar said.