New Delhi: Between 2019-20 and 2023-24, the Narendra Modi government spent Rs 967.46 crore for publicity of its schemes in the print media. The advertisements were routed through the government's publicity arm, the Central Bureau of Communication (CBC).

The information was disclosed by Union information and broadcasting minister, Anurag Thakur, in Lok Sabha in response to a question seeking details on government advertisements in print media. He said CBC releases awareness/publicity campaigns through print media under the Print Media Advertisement Policy, 2020.

As per the said policy, the Bureau of Outreach and Communication, a nodal agency set up in 2017, empanels newspapers in which advertisements will be placed. A newspaper should have a minimum circulation of 2,000 copies per day to be considered eligible for empanelment. The policy mandates that 80% of the government's newspaper advertisements be reserved for Indian language dailies.

"The details of expenditure incurred by CBC, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, on awareness/publicity campaigns about schemes and programmes of the government of India through print media from 2019-20 to 2023-24 (till 12 December 2023) is Rs 967.46 crore," said Thakur, according to news agency PTI.

According to the government's data, there were 1,19,995 periodicals, including newspapers, registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI) as of March 31, 2019. The number subsequently rose to 1,43,423 in 2020, 1,44,520 in 2021, 1,46,045 in 2022, and 1,48,363 in 2023.

Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 21,660 periodicals registered with the government, followed by Maharashtra with 20,448 periodicals, and Delhi with 16,446 periodicals, according to Scroll.in.

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