Thread by @ashlinpmathew

#mustread The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has spent Rs 293 crore on advertisement in TV channels, newspapers and radio during the pandemic year 2020-21. This is Rs 93.2 crore more than what it spent in 2019-20.

There has been a 2,500% increase from the ad spend in 2012-13, when the Congress-led Delhi government under Sheila Dixit spent only ₹11.18 crore on advertisements. The Kejriwal government has spent approximately ₹805 crore on advertisements ever since he came to power in 2015.

This information has come to light in responses to queries sought under the RTI Act by rights activist @Kanhaiyablogs.

However, these numbers are much lower than what the Delhi government has mentioned in their budget documents.

According to the budget documents, under the detailed demand for grants, the Delhi government has stated that the revised estimate for information and publicity in 2020-21 was ₹355.33 cr. The final figure will be known only next year.

In 2015, which was the first year that the Aad Aadmi Party came to power with full majority, the Delhi government spent ₹81.23 cr on advertising; in 2016-17, it spent ₹67cr, after which the advertising spend increased exponentially.

In 2017-18, the AAP-led Delhi government spent Rs 117.76 crore on advertising; in 2018-19, it dropped to Rs 45.58 crore but it grew by over four times in 2019-20, to approximately ₹200 cr.

In the budget document, the Delhi government states that 2015-16, they spent, ₹85.92 cr

This underscores that they have distorted the figures in their RTI response. In 2016-17, the actual spend was Rs 71.65 cr, in 2017-18, it was 122.23 cr, in 2018-19, it was Rs 50.88 and in 2019-20, it was Rs 204.17.

The Directorate of Information and Publicity claimed in the RTI response that it did not maintain records of advertising spend through various mediums including television, newspapers, hoardings, radio and campaigns.

nationalheraldindia.com/india/kejriwal…