Gandhinagar, October 5: PROPRIETORS and editors of newspapers in the State are likely to protest against the new public advertisement policy that the government released last week. Certain provisions of the policy are aimed at controlling aspects of management that impinge on the overall freedom of the Press.
With Modi Government having earlier run-ins, particularly with vernacular dailies, the new policy is set to attract widespread criticism, especially from small and medium-size newspapers. A minimum eligibility criterion for getting a government ad has been fixed at 10,000 copies of daily circulation in case of dailies.
For weeklies and monthlies, the respective figures are 5,000 and 2,000. The policy also imposes major cuts on the rates of up to 80 per cent.
‘‘Bringing out such policy without taking newspapers into confidence casts doubts on the government’s intention,’’ says media baron and Gujarat Samachar Managing Editor Shreyansh Shah.
Among others, the policy provides for an all-bureaucratic committee that would empanel newspapers eligible for government advertisements.
‘‘An all-bureaucratic committee at the mercy of chief minister is to empanel newspapers for eligibility. Other provisions also make it clear that it is an attempt at strangulating the freedom of Press,’’ said Shah.
Also, as per the new policy, newspapers would need to apply twice in a year to remain empanelled as also obtain certificates from the district police chiefs and government-approved chartered accountants, in order to get government ads.
The draft policy brought out by the Information Department is modeled on the lines of one brought out by the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) of the Central Government.
‘‘It’s possible that people react as it is for the first time that we have a concrete policy. It follows DAVP guidelines and is not discriminatory. If the minimum circulation is kept at 10,000, that is keeping in mind the higher population that we have now,’’ said D N Padiyar, Additional Information Commissioner.
