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Journalism of Courage
With election just an year away,the budgetary allocation for the Information and Broadcasting Ministry the publicity arm of the government saw a substantial increase. While the cash-strapped Prasar Bharati got a 26-per cent increase in allocation as compared to last year,the crucial Advertising and Visual Publicity wing got a 50 per cent hike.
The budgetary allocation for the ministry was Rs 3,035 crore,an increase of Rs 300 crore. The major share of it went to the Prasar Bharati and the advertising and visual publicity arm. The grants-in-aid to the Prasar Bharati shot up Rs 1,729 crore to Rs 2,180 crore. The Prasar Bharati has also been allocated another Rs 200 crore under the head of Investment in Public Enterprise.
The ministrys overall budget increased by nearly 12.6 per cent from Rs 2,693 crore to Rs 3,035 crore. The allocation to the advertising and visual publicity wing was increased from Rs 158 crore to Rs 239 crore. The wing plays a major role in propagating the initiatives of the UPA government and its role becomes all the more important given the fact that several states are going to polls this year and Lok Sabha elections are just a little over a year away.
Interestingly,I&B Minister Manish Tewari expressed happiness with the budget. The three Ps of FMs budget prudent,productive & progressive. It would boost growth and augment equity UPAs guiding philosophy, he tweeted.
