Delhi govt’s RTI replies give mismatched figures for promoting bills

RTI activist Vivek Pandey shared details about two Right To Information (RTI) purposes that he had submitted to get details about the cash the Kejriwal authorities has spent on promoting in all codecs. Interestingly, the figures shared by the Accounts Branch in reply to the primary RTI that was filed in November 2020 and in reply to the second RTI don’t match. Also, within the second RTI, the Delhi authorities didn’t share the entire data that was requested for.
What was requested within the RTI?
Vivek Pandey requested three inquiries to the Delhi authorities. In the primary query, Pandey requested the federal government to supply data on the cash spent by the Delhi authorities for commercial in print media between January 2020 to June 2021. In the second query, he requested the federal government to supply data for the cash spent on digital media for a similar interval. In the third query, he requested to supply the knowledge on the cash spent on out of doors commercial for a similar interval.
In its reply, the accounts division of the Delhi authorities didn’t present the breakdown of the quantity spent on commercial based mostly on the advert format. It stated, “The Accounts Branch does not maintain the records through various medium (Television, newspapers, hoarding, radio, campaign and department-wise & others) separately.” The division solely offered the gathered information month-wise.
Accounts division claimed they don’t hold breakdown data of the modes of commercial. Source: Vivek Pandey
Delhi govt spent over 17 crores in June 2021 on ads
RTI reply has revealed that the Delhi authorities has spent Rs.24.84 crore to date within the monetary 12 months 2021-22 on ads. Notably, the accounts division didn’t share a breakdown of the expenditures in print, digital and different codecs claiming that they don’t hold such data. However, they did share a month-to-month breakdown in line with which the government. had spent Rs. 3.42 crores in April 2021, 4.32 crores in May 2021 and 17.1 crores in June 2021.
The #Delhi govt. has spent 24.84 crores on #adverts to date (April to June) 2021.However, what pursuits me essentially the most is the figures they talked about. For January 2020 in earlier #RTI reply they’d spent Rs.15.32 cr and this time they declare to spent 72.60 cr. So which determine is true ? pic.twitter.com/N5mlENW8bM— Vivek pandey (@Vivekpandey21) July 14, 2021
It must be famous that Aam Aadmi Party has began campaigning for Assembly elections in numerous states throughout the nation, together with Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Punjab. Recently, it was reported that the Delhi authorities has been spending public cash to spice up its picture in different states. Reportedly, on July 9, the Delhi authorities ran a full-page commercial not simply in a number of nationwide dailies but in addition in regional newspapers in Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, and so on., informing in regards to the launch of a brand new scheme, “Mukhyamantri Covid-19 Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana”. The sudden improve in advert expenditure could also be associated to those adverts in different states.
The distinction within the quantity in two RTIs
Pandey has submitted two purposes to get data on the advert expenditure by the Delhi authorities in current instances. The first utility was submitted in November 2020, and the second was submitted in June 2021. Notably, when the Delhi authorities replied to the primary utility, it stated that they spent Rs.15.32 crores on ads in January 2020. However, in reply to the second utility in June 2021, the quantity was modified to Rs.72.60 crores. While speaking to OpIndia, Pandey stated that such variations in figures create doubts over the federal government’s intentions. “How can I be sure if the rest of the replies that I got from the government are correct? One can only hope this was a human error.”
Delhi authorities offered two completely different figures for January 2020 in two RTIs. Source: Vivek Pandey
It is unclear if the federal government gave incorrect figures within the first reply or the second. It additionally raises the query if the Delhi authorities has offered the proper details about the opposite months. It shall be fascinating to see if another person has requested for a similar data and the info offered by the Delhi authorities match or not.
Notably, there’s a provision of penalty clause beneath part 20(1) of RTI Act 2005 which gives imposition of penalty of Rs.250 for every day until the knowledge is furnished topic to a most of Rs.25000 if the knowledge given is inaccurate, incomplete or deceptive.
The lacking data from the RTIs
The Delhi authorities, in reply to the second RTI, didn’t present month-wise breakdown data on the cash spent by them from April 2020 to March 2021. However, as Pandey had submitted two purposes, there was partial data obtainable from the primary RTI. After some calculations, it’s seen that the federal government had spent 99.69 crores between April 2020 to October 2020. Another RTI that had the details about the primary three months of 2021 revealed that the Delhi authorities had spent 150.33 crores on ads within the first three months of 2021. That makes a complete of 250.02 crores. As of now, there isn’t any data obtainable on how a lot cash the Delhi authorities spent on adverts in November 2020 and December 2020.
Since the Aam Aadmi Party authorities has taken over Delhi, they’ve spent an unlimited quantity on ads. They used the general public cash on adverts not solely in Delhi however in different states as effectively.