Govt plans Rs 12-cr ad blitz

Undeterred by the debt burden which has crossed Rs 1 lakh crore, the Maharashtra government will soon embark on a Rs 12.11-crore ad campaign...

Undeterred by the debt burden which has crossed Rs 1 lakh crore, the Maharashtra government will soon embark on a Rs 12.11-crore ad campaign to trumpet the Congress-NCP coalition’s achievements.

With the Assembly poll just months away, the government plans to use cable TV on a widescale to convey messages tailored for different regions in the state. ‘‘Emphasis will be on development schemes undertaken by the government rather than glorification of prominent politicians,’’ said sources.

The budget for the drive is more than twice the sum allotted for the Lok Sabha campaign drive. Based on the theme, ‘‘Maharashtra Leads,’’ the last one was allotted Rs 6 crore. However, it stopped midway when the Chief Election Commissioner pointed out the misuse of public funds in the context of NDA’s ‘India Shining’ campaign.

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This time, the entire campaign will be designed and implemented by the Directorate General of Information and Public Relations headed by Bhushan Gagrani.

District-level information officers will coordinate the exercise. And the emphasis would be on cable TV, followed by small and medium newspapers, and later national dailies.

As per estimates, there are over 40 lakh cable connections in Maharashtra and the average number of viewers per TV set is at least 10.

If the campaign is implemented effectively, the Congress-NCP alliance is guaranteed a viewership of four crore people in the hinterland.

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As per official figures, Rs 7.05 crore will be spent on ads on cable TV, newspapers and magazines, Rs 4.01 crore on documentaries and Rs 1.05 crore for exhibitions.

The government has already made provisions in the budget for it.

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