New Delhi, May 27: The Narendra Modi government's advertisement blitz for its second anniversary celebrations will cost the taxpayer over Rs 100 crore, government officials have revealed.
Sources in the directorate of audio-visual publicity - the Centre's publicity arm - told The Telegraph the agency was spending Rs 85 crore on radio and television ads and another Rs 18 crore on newspaper ads.
"The money is being spent on a weeklong media campaign to highlight the government's achievements," a senior directorate official said.
This spending is over and above the undisclosed sum paid to Geometry Global Encompass Network, an event management company hired to organise spectacular shows at India Gate and five state capitals tomorrow.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had yesterday accused the Modi government of splurging Rs 1,000 crore on its second anniversary.
"Modi govt spend on ads for just ONE event 2 yr bash? Sources- more than Rs 1000cr. All Del govt depts total spend less than 150cr for full yr," Kejriwal had tweeted.
Junior information and broadcasting minister Rajyavardhan Rathore declined to reveal the sum being spent on the anniversary celebrations.
"Do I need to say something about Kejriwal's allegation?" he told this newspaper when asked for his reaction. "This information (on the spending) can be obtained through a Right to Information query."
Perry Mehta, a senior Geometry Global executive who was at India Gate today to oversee the arrangements, said: "I've been told not to talk about the event at all."
Sources at public broadcaster Doordarshan, which will telecast the five-hour programme live from 5pm, said the event had been titled Zara Muskura Do (Give Us A Smile Please).
They said the " do" (which can mean either "give" or "two" in Hindi) was a pun on the government's completion of two years.
Bollywood actor Madhvan will be the key anchor. Amitabh Bachchan, Vidya Balan and Priyanka Chopra will be present, as will the Prime Minister, most of his cabinet colleagues and senior bureaucrats. The event is meant only for television, so there will be no public participation.
"Bachchan and Balan will participate because they have been associated with several of our schemes," Rathore said.
Bachchan is brand ambassador for Doordarshan's Kisan channel, launched last year, and recently began endorsing the government's GiveItUp campaign, aimed at getting well-off people to surrender their LPG subsidy. Balan promotes the government's cleanliness campaign.
Doordarshan has set up 20 high-definition cameras around India Gate. Except for Doordarshan, the media will be kept out.
Similar but smaller events will be held in Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Meghalaya, with senior cabinet ministers expected to be present.
"The (India Gate) event's main feature will be a panel discussion highlighting several schemes and plans launched by the government, interspersed with cultural programmes," an I&B ministry official said.
"The show will be punctuated with video grabs of the common man's understanding and gains from the government's flagship programmes like the direct transfer of the LPG subsidy, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, One Rank One Pension and the Jan Dhan Yojana," a Doordarshan official supervising the event said.
Short documentaries will be beamed during the panel discussion, showcasing the before-and-after success stories of the Swachh Bharat, Digital India and rural electrification schemes.
The event, whose underlying theme will be national integration through central schemes, will be wrapped up with the singing of the national anthem.
Last month, the Prime Minister's Office had tasked ministers Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal, Venkaiah Naidu and Rathore with identifying the schemes that can be showcased. Following this, the I&B ministry wrote to the various departments seeking details of key programmes.
