Rajasthan’s Digital Media Policy Falters as Bhajan Lal Government Struggles to Promote Schemes
The Bhajan Lal government in Rajasthan is struggling to promote its schemes effectively through digital media, despite significant expenditure. Many states, including Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh, have surged ahead in this aspect. The primary reason for this disparity lies in the defective nature of Rajasthan’s Digital Media Policy. This is evidenced by the fact that since coming into power, the Bhajan Lal government has failed to advertise even a single scheme through digital channels. Despite invitations, local news portals in Rajasthan are hesitant to carry government advertisements.
The Information and Public Relations Department of Rajasthan has essentially adopted the digital media policy of the DAVP (Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity). However, the advertisement rates set by the DAVP are considerably low. Furthermore, non-DAVP-approved news portals in Rajasthan are unable to meet the impression quotas demanded by the policy. Consequently, the Information and Public Relations Department cannot advertise on any news portal in Rajasthan, despite digital media being the fastest and most cost-effective medium for publicity. Unlike newspapers, digital media allows content to be accessed globally.
The requirement for news portals to have 25% content from Rajasthan has been removed from the policy. Previously, news portals had to be registered with the Information and Public Relations Department, with conditions based on the age of the domain and the percentage of Rajasthan-related content. However, this condition was exploited by the previous government, leading to its removal. As a result, the government is now unable to support news portals that promote its initiatives, while funds are allocated to portals from other states.
Several impractical conditions are outlined in Rajasthan’s digital media policy. For instance, Category C news portals are required to have a minimum of 250,000 monthly visitors and 3 to 3.5 million page views. Moreover, the Department demands over 9.5 million impressions for a Rs 50,000 advertisement, which is unattainable. Additionally, news portals must reapply for advertisements regularly, unlike newspapers and electronic media, which submit applications only once a year. Consequently, news portals in Rajasthan are keeping their distance from the government.
Haryana boasts the most effective digital media policy. Initially facing similar challenges, the Haryana government amended its policy to support local news portals. It introduced four categories and fixed rates for advertising on news portals, providing substantial monthly assistance to Haryana-based news portals.