The Government has designated Department of Information & Public Relations as the Central Office for distribution of all official advertisements, both in the print and electronic media.“Except where otherwise provided by any general or special order of Government in any particular case, the Information Department will be the Central Office for the issuance of all official advertisements and it will secure standing contracts for advertisement space in the various media approved by Government from time to time,” said a Circular issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) here this evening.It said the instructions relating to routing of Government Advertisements through Department of Information have been issued from time to time both by the General Administration Department and the Finance Department. “In this context, reference is invited to Government OrderNo: 671-GAD of 2007 dated: 08.06.2007 and Circular No: 16-GAD of 2015 dated: 16.03.2015 issued by the General Administration Department and Govt Order No: 201-F of 2018 dated: 06.04.2018 and Circular issued under No: FD-VII-Gen/2008-09 dated: 14.11.2008 by the Finance Department,” said the Circular adding that notwithstanding these instructions, it has been brought to the notice of the Government that certain Departments and Public Sector Undertaking/Autonomous bodies are still issuing official advertisement(s) directly to the print and electronic media without routing the same through Department of Information, which is a stark violation of the rule position and standing instructions of the Government.
“It is, therefore, impressed upon all the Administrative Secretaries/Heads of Departments /Managing Directors of PSUs that no Government Department/Public sector Undertaking/Autonomous Body shall, under any circumstances, issue official advertisements directly to the print and electronic media and instead routethe same through the Directorate of Information,” it said adding any violation in this regard will be reviewed seriously and appropriate action initiated against the delinquent official/officer (s) if any, including recovery of costs of such advertisements from Administrative Secretaries/HODs/MDs/etc.“The Information Department shall closely monitor the matter and report violations, if any, of these circular instructions to the General Administration Department on afortnightly basis,” the Circular said.Pertinently, the Government has designated the offices of Joint Director Information Kashmir/Jammu as Nodal Offices for the distribution of official advertisements and release of payments to the newspapers.The State Government has enhanced the Advertisement Budget substantially during the past few years and from Rs 22 crore in 2014-15 it has gone up to Rs 35 crore for the current fiscal. The Advertisement rates for the print media were also hiked by more than 50% by the government last year.The Information Department is in the process of formulating an Advertisement Policy for the Electronic Media as well.