In the midst of the ongoing paralyzing parliament session that's been majorly stalled over the Manipur violence, a key revelation has been put before the public domain - the Modi regime's sharp spending on advertisements since 2018. The data about the cost implies that there is a strong trend of advertising from the Modi government though the spending fluctuates based on the channel of advertisement.

Last week, the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting officially shared a data in Rajya Sabha that the BJP-led Union government has spent Rs 3,064.42 crore on advertisement and publicity for its schemes and programmes since 2018-19. The channel of print media had won more advertisement prospects from the government while the electronic media ranked at the second spot. 

As per the Ministry's data, the government has spent Rs 1,338.56 crore on print media, Rs 1,273.06 crore on electronic media, and Rs 452.80 crore on outdoor publicity between 2018-19 and 2023-24 till July 13 this year. Though the government showers money on this agent of advertisement for its mass outreach, there has been a decline in spending in 2022-23. 

According to the data, the overall expenditure on advertisment has declined from Rs 1,179 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 408.46 crore in 2022-23. In 2019-20, the expenditure on advertisement stood at Rs 708.18 crore and it further plummeted to Rs 409.47 crore in 2020-21 and to Rs 315.98 crore in 2021-22. However, in 2022-23, there has been an increase in the expenditure as the government had spent Rs 408.46 crore on advertisements. 

The data further revealed that between April and July 13 of this fiscal year, the government has spent Rs 43.16 crore on advertisements so far and as India is heading towards a cluster of elections from assembly polls to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, it has been expected that the BJP regime's spending on the advertisements would surge in coming months. 

Moreover, the data has also shown both the channels of advertisement - electronic and print media, had witnessed a race to win the advertisements since 2018 and eventually, print media had more shares of advertisements in the last three fiscals, while the electronic media had a higher share of advertisements in 2018-19 and 2019-20. 

The first four months of this fiscal showed a stronghand for electronic media so far as the government had spent Rs 17.37 crore for advertising on electronic media while Rs 17.09 crore was spent for print media. The government has also spent Rs 8.70 crore on outdoor publicity in this fiscal so far. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had shared the data in the Rajya Sabha to the query raised by Trinamool Congress MP Abir Ranjan Biswas. 

In his written reply, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Thakur said that an independent third party agency conducted an all India Survey/Impact Assessment Study of Multi-Media Campaigns executed by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) covering 722 districts. "Findings of the study have been found to be very useful in planning effective communication strategies so as to ensure targeted information dissemination and last mile connectivity", the minister added.