In K-P, Rs480m govt ads placed in newspapers over last 4 years

Government also paid Rs510 million outstanding dues, says Provincial Minister for Information and Broadcasting. PHOTO: NNI/FILE

PESHAWAR: Provincial Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Thursday said the provincial government had released Rs480 million advertisements to different newspapers during the last four years, besides paying Rs510 million outstanding dues.

Talking to the All Pakistan Newspapers Society here, he said the government has a clear and merit based policy for issuance of advertisements to all the newspapers without any discrimination.

He said the government has adopted a very strict policy for the payment of outstanding dues to the newspapers.

He said the government issued funds to all the government departments for advertisements, however, some departments were “lethargic” and returned the money at the end of the fiscal year. He added that the government has decided to take action against those departments who did not pay newspapers for placement of advertisements despite the allocation of funds by the provincial government.

Referring to an increase in advertisements’ rate, he said the government is already considering this demand of the newspapers society and would soon take a positive step in this regard.