New Delhi, Sep 4 (UNI) The war of words intensified between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Delhi Lieutenant Governor’s Secretariat over the process of hiring a Social Media Agency to manage its social media outreach.
The LG Secretariat on Wednesday took strong objection to statements made by Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj regarding the matter.
“His choice of words is abusive, defamatory, misleading, and patently false, and the Secretariat will take legal recourse in the matter,” the LG office said.
Terming Bharadwaj’s comments as “laughably atrocious,” the LG office pointed out, “Such statements coming from the Minister of a government that has spent Rs 1,900 crores of public money in advertising during 2019-2023, which included two years of severe financial distress due to the pandemic.”
“The publicity budget for the year 2023-2024 stood at Rs 557.24 crores. It would not be out of place to mention here that the total ad spend during the five years of Smt. Sheila Dikshit’s regime from 2009-2010 to 2013-2014 amounted to a meager Rs 87.5 crores in comparison to the Rs 1,900 crores of this government,” the statement read.
The LG’s office further criticized the AAP government, stating, “This government has spent an average of Rs 36 crores per month and Rs 1.2 crores per day on advertising for the personal glorification of its leader and its political party (AAP), even as Delhi has become a living hell in terms of pollution, health, and civic infrastructure for its people.”
Ironically, such statements come from a Minister of a government that spends Rs 30 lakh per month (Rs 1 lakh per day) to an agency for issuing press releases alone, Rs 14 crores annually to an agency for live streaming of its political programs, Rs 4 crores annually to a PR agency, and Rs 2 crores annually to a Social Media Agency, it said.
Clarifying the process of hiring a Social Media Agency to manage its social media outreach, the LG’s office explained, “The Secretariat deals with extremely important people-oriented subjects, including housing, infrastructure development and upgradation of the city, law and order, security, and policing.”
“Several projects like the development of green spaces, restoration of heritage, cleaning of drains, traffic/parking management, and pollution mitigation, village development, etc., that require public participation and feedback, are being carried out directly under the supervision of the Lieutenant Governor,” it noted.
The Secretariat also serves as a forum for seamless coordination between various Urban Local Bodies, GNCTD, other agencies in the NCT of Delhi, and the residents at large. All of these require continuous interface and interaction with the people of Delhi.
At the same time, in the prevailing days of fake news, misinformation, and false propaganda, the Secretariat is also required to put out factual and correct information to counter misinformation, often played up on social media platforms by people with vested interests.
The tender to this effect, amounting to Rs 1.5 crores annually, has been transparently posted on relevant platforms, and the above-mentioned objectives and reasons for doing the same have also been outlined in the tender document, it said.
