'Expenditure incurred on adverts by govt depts, PSUs increased in last 3 years'

There has been an increase in the expenditure incurred on advertisements released through the Bureau of Outreach and Communication (BOC) for various government departments and public sector undertakings in the last three years, according to official data.

The BOC, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, is the nodal agency of the government for release of advertisements by ministries and departments of the government and its organisations for the dissemination of information about policies, programmes and schemes.

The Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (now BOC) is mandated to release advertisements for ministries and departments of the central government and its organisations, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said.

He said the details of the last three years and the current year were -- Rs 1,160.16 crore in 2015-16, Rs 1,264.26 crore in 2016-17, Rs 1,313.57 crore in 2017-18, and Rs 162.48 crore for 2018-19 (as on date).

His reply was to a written question in Rajya Sabha seeking details of expenditure incurred on advertisements by various government departments and public sector undertakings during the last three years and the current year.