In a major initiative aimed at maintaining transparency in distribution of advertisements, the Department of Information and Public Relations today finalized the arrangements for shifting to the online mode for distribution of advertisements to the newspapers and periodicals.The decision to shift to the online advertisement distribution system was announced by the Director Information and Public Relations, Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary after going through the presentation made by the Software Development Company, engaged by the Department for developing a dedicated software for the purpose.Joint Director Information (Headquarters), Joint Director Information, Jammu, Joint Director Information, Kashmir and other officers and officials of the Department were also present on the occasion.Giving details of the new system, the Director Information said that all the empanelled newspapers and the periodicals in the State would be given a dedicated password by the Department to log on to the online advertisement distribution portal and download the government advertisements allocated to the said newspaper/periodical for publication on a given day. He said the newspaper/periodical besides acknowledging the receipt of the advertisement online shall also have to upload the e-copy of the newspaper/periodical as and when the advertisement is published in it.
“The online system will not only help the Department to ensure maximum transparency in the distribution of advertisements but it will also help create a database of the advertisements released for publication so that any information regarding government advertisements is readily available for reference,” he said and added that to help the Information Department officials and the newspaper owners to get acclimatized with the new system, both the online and the existing system will go side by side for one month.The Department has created a dedicated online domain for the advertisement distribution which can be logged on at www.jkinformationadvt.in.Pertinently, the process for devising a proper mechanism for online distribution of advertisements was started by the Department of Information in June 2015 and a software consultancy was engaged to develop dedicated software for the purpose.Meanwhile, the Director Information also reviewed the overall functioning of the Department at a separate meeting with the officers of the Department. He called for making the Department a vibrant source of information for the media and the people.