Unfair and fake distribution of advertisements:Minister directs official to attach Joint Director

SrinagarGovernment on Tuesday directed Department of Information and Public Relations to attach one of its Joint Directors to General Administrative Department after the disclosure that the said officer has not only provided a misleading information under Right to Information Act but has also mentioned the names of non-existing newspapers claiming that the Department has issued advertisements in their favour.

The owner of a daily newspaper had sought information from Department of Information and Public Relations under RTI Act about the distribution of advertisements to newspapers published from Kashmir Valley.

The information provided by one of the Joint Directors of the department Zahoor Ahmed Mir reveals the unfair distribution of advertisements. The information received by the petitioner shows that even those newspapers have been issued advertisements that are not in circulation. Some of the newspapers mentioned are not even in circulation and even their owners have expired a long time back. It is a big scandal that needs to be unearthed, said the petitioner to news agency CNS.

A black and white weekly newspaper has been issued an advertisement measuring 1200sq/cm while a popular Daily getting published in color has been issued advertisement measuring 990sq/cm only. There are dozens of such examples. The irony is that the newspapers with fake titles have been mentioned and it has been claimed that advertisements have been issued to them to support their owners, he said.

While taking cognizance, the Minister for Information and Public Relations Chowdary Zulifkar directed Additional Secretary to attach Joint Director Zahoor Ahmed Mir to GAD and appoint Director Information Muneer-ul-Islam as inquiry officer. The incumbent Director will hold the inquiry into the matter, the Minister said.

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(CNS)

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