All advertisements release through proper channel: Information Minister Kaira

Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has said that all advertisements were released to print media on merit through the Press Information Department (PID), rejecting the impression that the government was using Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) advertisements as a pre-poll rigging tool.

While briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting, the minister said that the BISP has directly released advertisements to electronic media in past, but now the BISP advertisements are being routed through the PID.

The parliamentary body with Senator Kamil Ali Agha in the chair discussed the mechanism adopted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for the release of advertisements to different newspapers, magazines, periodicals and TV channels in a transparent manner.

Kaira said, “The committee that the Ministry has not sought any change in the advertisement circulation system, but requested that the advertisement policy to be centralized and the Prime Minister had approved the proposal. The Ministry/divisions/organizations have been conveyed to forward their advertisement requests according to the approved policy of the government.”

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf had issued directives for implementation of the centralized advertisement policy in letter and spirit.

He said that the issue of dues of newspapers surfaced frequently because some (government) institutions got their advertisements released without having fund allocated for the purpose.

The directives issued by the prime minister said that government rules should be (strictly) followed and all advertisements should be released to newspapers through the Press Information Department.

He said all advertisements could not be given only on the base of circulation because the PID released some advertisements keeping in mind the target readers.

After the meeting he spoke to the media saying that the government would submit an amended letter to be written to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.

Kaira stated that the government was sincere and wanted to tackle the issue according to the directives of the judiciary.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=33679

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Oct 5 2012. Filed under Pakistan, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.