
The Union government spent Rs 8.5 crore advertising Mann Ki Baat, PM Narendra Modi’s monthly radio address to the nation, an RTI reply by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting reveals.
The information was sought by Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajasthan state media coordinator Mulk Raj Anand.
As per the disclosure by I&B ministry, the government spent Rs 8,54,74,783 on newspaper advertisements for Mann Ki Baat till July 29, 2015.
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“The BJP says that Kejriwal government is wasting public money on advertisements. But these Rs 8.5 crore were spent only on one show meant for the publicity of the PM. And that too only on newspaper ads. The central government’s total expenditure on advertisements would be much, much higher,” Anand told The Indian Express.
AAP has been under fire from the Congress as well as BJP after it was revealed that the Delhi government spent Rs 526 crore on advertising its achievements.
The Delhi High Court, too, had recently asked the Delhi government to explain its ad spend.