Should there be photographs of Prime Minister, President or CJI be in Government Advertisements?

Two days back the Apex Court of the country gave a ruling that hence forth the Government Advertisements should only carry the photographs of Prime Minister or President or Chief Justice of India. 

Government ads is a major source of income for media be it print or electronic media. Government issues hundreds of advertisements every day for various purposes like calling for tenders (for government works), showcasing their achievements, public interest advertisements (like the recent ones featuring actress Ms Vidya Balan  for construction of toilets) etc. An estimated Rs 700 Crores was spent by the current government in the past one year on ads can give an idea as to how much is the government spend and the kind of exposure the individuals gets out of this exercise.

The ads for Tenders which are issued by individual departments does not carry any photographs. However the ads issued by government showcasing their achievements carry the photographs of the Prime Minister / Chief Minister, the concerned minister. In case of the previous UPA government the advertisements used to carry the photographs of Ms Sonia Gandhi (chair person of UPA) along with the then Prime Minister in case of central government ads. In case of state government ads the number of photographs will be higher as they carry those of Prime Minister and Chief Minister (if both are from the same party), concerned minister and Ms Sonia Gandhi (in case of Congress governments). The photographs often were in various poses like those waving (to the audience).

Supreme Court felt this is leading to adoration of individuals and should hence forth be curbed with only photographs of those mentioned above. Now the question is should the government ads carry any photographs at all. Photographs of  Primite Minister, Chief Ministers and the other ministers are always in the media glare more so in the current 24X7 news channel environment. President generally does not appear anywhere and currently in India this is a post reserved for those who are at the fag end of their career and hence does not require any introduction as they were in media already. Now the question is should CJI needs any advertisement at all? Judiciary is generally out of the media glare so that they can work without any pressures. By display of all these photographs are we not providing a free publicity to these individuals at the cost of public money? More so in case of the Prime Ministers who are only there till they have the necessary majority in the Parliament and represent a political party.

I feel the ideal way to advertise the government achievements is under the Seal of the government as the fruits of these achievements belong to the people irrespective of the party in power. In case the party wants highlight their achievements while in power, let them do so at their own cost instead of wasting the public money to showcase their achievements. 

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