Andhra Pradesh state government from the past three years has been spending considerably on advertisements featuring Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. On Friday, the government released a front-page advertisement to the newspapers announcing the felicitation of the Vice President Venkaiah Naidu.
One of the Objective of government publicity by the Information and public relations department of the state as put up on its website is, “The welfare schemes being implemented by the government for welfare of privileged beneficiary should reach them…”
The department and the government on the whole are answerable to the tax payers as to how felicitating Venkaiah is for the welfare of a people? Such Ads felicitating politicians are nothing but propaganda.
Within a fortnight, the GoAP has published full page ads related to several initiatives. While the Jalasiri advertisements (Irrigation projects) are to enlighten the people, they are to an extent misleading. The advertisement on Independence Day lists that TDP government took up 28 projects, which on a keen observation is a misrepresentation of projects. The irrigation department’s website lists the reservoirs and canal under Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi Phase2, while the advertisement lists it as an individual project.
With less than two years for the elections, taxpayers should get ready for a barrage of publicity for schemes. Pick up any newspaper, switch on any Telugu news channel or tune into any FM channel or travel on any main road, soon the thrust of communication and advertisements will only be increasing. The Taxpayer will be bombarded with advertisements which are put up using the money they have paid to the government. Nonetheless it’s high time for the government to take cognisance of the taxpayers’ money and start using it in the right way by providing right information.
