DAVP is `ditching’ small newspapers, says PCI

BHUBANESWAR, APRIL 9: The Press Council of India (PCI) has directed the Directorate of Audio Visual and Publicity (DAVP) to outline detai...

BHUBANESWAR, APRIL 9: The Press Council of India (PCI) has directed the Directorate of Audio Visual and Publicity (DAVP) to outline detailed working guidelines for proper utilisation of the advertisement funds.

Hearing a case filed by the president of Small and Periodical Newspapers Editor’s Council of Byawar (Rajasthan) against DAVP here on Tuesday, the PCI said that the directorate was ignoring small newspapers for one reason or the other and there was no proper monitoring of the advertisement funds.

The PCI also pulled up DAVP officials for discriminating in the release of display advertisements to small and periodical newspapers.

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Stating that implementation of the advertisement policy was not supported by any objective and scientific information but was based on the gut decisions of directorate employees, the PCI held that advertisement funds belong to the people and needed to be utilised judiciously so that there was a balanced and equitable distribution of advertisement to various categories ofnewspapers.

The PCI also held that share of advertisements by a big newspaper was often more than the combined share of small and medium newspapers. The percentage of amount allocated to small newspapers was less than even one-fifth of the amount allocated to big newspapers and thus, there was discrimination in the allocation of advertisement funds, the PCI maintained.

Holding that big newspapers have an abundant supply of advertisements from the private sector, the PCI said that it was the small and medium newspapers which reach the masses at the lowest levels and it was they who are depending upon Government advertisements.

Meanwhile, the PCI has also decided to send a copy of the above directive to the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, so that it prepares proper guidelines as soon as possible for utilising advertisement funds to secure optimum benefit for the Central Government’s objective.