The Hindu : New Delhi News : DDA blamed for not routing advertisements through DAVP

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Saturday, May 14, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

DDA blamed for not routing advertisements through DAVP

Staff Reporter

Authority deprived of the benefit of concessional rates

NEW DELHI: : The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the year ended March 2004 has noted that the failure of DDA to route its advertisements through the Directorate of Advertisement and Visual Publicity in accordance with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting's circular deprived the Authority of the benefit of concessional rates and resulted in avoidable expenditure of Rs 6.07 crores between November 2001 and March 2003.

But when the matter was referred by CAG to the Ministry and DDA in April 2002, rather than correcting itself DDA argued that it was an autonomous body and unlike government departments, such autonomous bodies are charged commercial rates by various newspapers.

It added that it had been making concerted efforts to get DAVP rates but the newspapers had been insisting that commercial rates should be charged from them.

The CAG has found this reply as "not tenable'' as it said, "DDA did not explain why it did not route its advertisement and publicity requirements through DAVP in accordance with the Ministry's circular instead of attempting to directly negotiate with the newspapers and advertisement agencies''.

The report said DDA releases advertisements to various newspapers through advertising agencies at commercial card rates and the advertisement rates and the agencies are approved or empanelled every year with the approval of the Member (Finance) of DDA.

Public sector

In October 2001, it said, the Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation circulated to DDA for guidance and necessary action a letter received from the DAVP, in which it had requested all Ministries to advise all public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies under the administrative control to route their publicity requirements through DAVP as their rates were only 40 per cent of the commercial card rates.

DAVP added in December 2001 that according to the Allocation of Business Rules of the Union Government, production and release of all displays as well as classified advertisements on behalf of the Government of India were to be done through it.

Subsequently, in response to the queries of DDA, DAVP clarified in February 2002 that DAVP rates were uniformly applicable to all client departments and furnished a copy of the procedure to be followed by PSUs and autonomous bodies for routing their advertisements through DAVP.

However, the report noted that "DDA continued to place advertisements through their own empanelled agencies rather than through DAVP.''

Stating that during 2001-02 and 2002-03, DDA spent Rs 11.99 crores on advertisement in various newspapers, it pointed out that "had the advertisement been routed through DAVP, DDA could have saved Rs 6.07 crores''.

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