RTI activist exposes Punjab govt 'splurging' crores of rupees on media ads

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led government in Punjab has been spending crores of rupees on media advertisements, according to an RTI activist. The AAP government has been facing the wrath of the opposition members on this count.

Bathinda: In an RTI query, it was revealed that Punjab government has been allegedly spending money running into several crores of rupees in advertisements. The government ads worth crores of rupees were doled out to several media houses putting a burden on the exchequer.

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann-led government in Punjab has been facing the wrath of the opposition members on this count. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab was accused of draining out taxpayers' hard-earned money. Rajandeep Singh, an RTI activist residing in Bathinda, had sought information from the Information Commission about the Punjab government's spending on ads on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

Singh was supposed to receive a reply within 30 days. But, the Punjab government responded to his RTI query after about four months. "The Punjab government spent rupees four crores on print media ads and over rupees eleven crores in advertisements to electronic media. The cost of hoardings and bills was not included in the reply," the government said replaying to the RTI query.

Only two of the three questions were answered through the RTI revealing that at least Rs 16 crore was spent on advertisements on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, sources said.

Rajandeep said, "The Punjab government is splurging crores of rupees on ads which belong to Punjabis. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been claiming corruption-free governance in the state. But the ground reality is something else. So, what we see is that there was no difference between what APP says and what it actually does."