There is a thin line between political advertising and government advertising and when done at a huge cost to the exchequer and the tax payer, there are questions which need to be asked…

Sample this. On the 20th of August 2013, leading newspapers in Delhi were plastered with advertisements by the central and Delhi governments ostensibly celebrating Sadbhavna Diwas, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary. No surprise, since this was just prior to the Delhi elections and before the Model Code of Conduct of the Election Commission came into force.

A very basic analysis of the extent of advertisements on this one day in one newspaper revealed that there were about 17 advertisements connected to the Rajiv Gandhi theme, covering at least 30% of the printed space. Some 13 of those, which ranged from quarter pagers to full pagers, were by various ministries of the central government ranging from the Ministry of Youth Affairs to the Ministry of Health to the Ministry of Power. Three of those were by the Delhi government sponsored by the Department of Environment and Forests and even the Department of Food Supplies and Consumer Affairs. One, interestingly, was also from the government of Rajasthan with then Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at the heal.

The point is moot. This is our government spending public money on advertisements which cost a fortune sponsored through a dozen of it’s Ministries on the same topic published on a single day. And this just a corner-of-the-napkin analysis of one newspaper in one city. Multiply that with numerous newspapers with many city editions all over India and the enormity of the ad-spend will be truly gargantuan. This is not unusual. This advertising splurge is a phenomenon that we may have got used to but it occurs quite so frequently under our gaze. Without going into any intricate legalities of this subject, there is one basic common sensical principle which militates against this waste. A democratic government which represents the people can spend its money on public messaging (communication which is relevant to thewelfare of its people) but not to advertise its work or even its heroes in a manner which is nothing short of grandiose. Particularly when these advertisements are peppered with mugshots of national leaders or even political leaders, they cannot classify as government’s public messaging but brazen political advertising. It is acceptable when a political party uses its own funds to advertise for electioneering purposes but it is definitely not if tax payer’s money is used to further political ends.

All central government advertisements are released through Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), a nodal agency. Some other autonomous bodies also route their advertisements through DAVP. The state governments have their own Directorates of Information and Publicity which use DAVP mandated rates for releasing advertisements. As per DAVP’s published reports, about Rs 388 crores was spent by the central government for advertising in newspapers in the financial year 2012-2013 . This does not account for spend on non-print advertising on TV and Radio as well as outdoor publicity and Internet, which reportedly is upwards of about Rs 200 crores . State governments have their own fanciful budgetary allocations. In a media research report for 2011-2012, the then Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh ranked among the Top 10 brands in the country with an ad spend higher than the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

This kind of splurge offers another insidious advantage to the government or at least ostensibly so. The media benefits from huge advertising budgets of governments particularly close to election time. It offers a useful leverage to the political masters over media houses. This kind of control is probably more prevalent in smaller publications which may depend more desperately on such advertising spends than mainstream media which would have more delicate reputations to protect. Even the Press Council of India reacted to this with leading editors echoing the concern.

Is there a legal check and balance? Nothing with useful clarity exists in our existing jurisprudence to prohibit or restrict such advertising. Media budgets, its scope and extent seem clearly the domain of the executive. Purely political advertising is governed during election time by Model Code of Conducts by the Election Commission. Even the Supreme Court in the Gemini TV case exercised powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India but only for a limited period in 2004 to direct all political parties, candidates, persons, group of persons or Trusts who propose to insert advertisements in the electronic media, including cable networks and/or television channels as well as cable operators, to apply to the Election Commission prior to releasing any advertisement. This was to enforce Rule 7(3) of the Cable Television Networks Rules 1994 which reads as follows: “No advertisement shall be permitted the objects whereof are wholly or mainly of a religious or political nature; advertisements must not be directed towards any religious or political end.”

Some innovative efforts were made by the former Delhi Lokayukta Justice (Retd) Manmohan Sarin, who recommended in a report to the President of India that Sheila Dixit, the former Chief Minister of Delhi, flouted norms of integrity and conduct and abused her position as head of the Delhi Government to unleash an advertising campaign prior to the state assembly elections in 2008. This campaign highlighting achievements of the Delhi government was cleverly synchronized with Congress’ political campaign and intended to gain political mileage before the elections. His report recommended that the Congress Chief Minister should refund Rs 11 crores to the exchequer and that guidelines be framed incorporating safeguards to prevent misuse of public funds by adopting such strategy by governments. No action was taken by the President of India in that regard and with the limited powers of the Lokayukta, there was not much more which could be achieved.

With the new Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill 2011 being passed by the Parliament recently, it may be welcome if this issue creeps within its jurisdiction and purview, if not of our courts which are empowered to pass directions, in public interest, to force the government to frame guidelines to regulate and prune this excessive waste of public money. With the general elections round the corner, we will be witness to this untamed beast of political advertising garbed under government advertising covering every possibly space visible to the public. May be it’s the right time to ask the tough questions.