Assam government spent more on ads in past two years than during previous CM’s entire tenure
The Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government spent Rs 130.59 crore in two years, while the one led by Sarbananda Sonowal had spent Rs 125.60 crore in five years.
The current Assam government spent Rs 130.59 crore in advertisements during the last two years, while the previous state government spent Rs 125.60 crore in its entire five-year tenure, data shared by Information and Public Relations Minister Pijush Hazarika revealed.
Hazarika shared the information in the Assam Assembly in response to a query by Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi.
As per the data, the previous government led by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sarbananda Sonowal released a total of Rs 132.30 crore to the state Directorate of Information and Public Relations from 2016-2017 to 2020-2021. Out of this, Rs 125.60 crore was spent on government advertisements in newspapers, magazines, television channels and radio stations.
Sarma, also a BJP leader, took oath as the chief minister on May 10, 2021.
In 2021-2022 and 2022-23 combined, the state government allocated Rs 132 crore to the Directorate of Information and Public Relations. Of this, the government spent Rs 130.58 crore on advertisements.
Last year, the BJP government at the Centre had said that it has spent Rs 911.17 crore on advertisements across print, television and internet media platforms from 2019 till June 2022. In December 2021, the Centre had told the Lok Sabha that it had spent Rs 1,698.89 crore on advertisements in print and electronic media between 2018 and 2021.
