REGULATION OF GOVERNMENT ADVERTISING : CCRGA
What exactly is CCRGA?
· Committee on Content Regulation in Government Advertising (CCRGA)
-
· On 13th May, 2015, supreme court issued some guidelines and as per those guidelines, the Government of India had set up a three member body in 2016 to try to find out the information on content regulation of government funded advertisements in all media platforms.
-
· It is authorized to address complaints from the general public and can also take suo-moto cognizance of any deviation of the Supreme Court guidelines and recommend corrective actions.
- · Currently, the chairperson of CCRGA is Shri Om Prakash Rawat, former Chief Election Commissioner of India and the Members are Ramesh Narayan of Asian Federation of Advertising Associations and Past President, IAA and Dr. Ashok Kumar Tandon, Member, Prasar Bharti Board.
SUPREME COURT GUIDELINES:
-
· The advertisement materials should be designed in such a way so that it can achieve the objectives of the campaign and it should ensure the maximum reach in a profitable way.
-
· The advertisements should be accurate and should not present pre-existing policies and products as new products or policies. Also, the content of the advertisement should not promote the political interests of the ruling party.
-
· The content of the government advertisements should be relevant to the government’s constitutional and legal duties as well as the citizen’s rights and entitlements.
WHY CCRGA IS IN NEWS?
Recently, the Supreme Court-mandated committee on content Regulation in Government Advertising (CCRGA) issued a notice to the Delhi government, seeking the clarification on an advertisement of the Delhi Government which had appeared in Mumbai editions of prominent newspapers on 16th July, 2020.
This was the one page advertisement which was published by the Department of Education and Directorate of Information and Publicity, Government of NCT of Delhi. The advertisement announced the performance of Delhi government schools in class 12 board exams. The advertisement also carried a photograph and quote of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
It was heavily criticized on social media and many claimed that its purpose was only “political messaging’’ and there was no point in spending huge amount of money to publish the ad in other states.
The Committee had given the time of 60 days to Delhi government to reply on the issue on the following points:
· How the advertisement does not violate the Supreme Court guidelines of avoiding idealization of political personalities.
· The cost of exchequer in the advertisement published
· The purpose of such an advertisement
· Media plan of the advertisement along with names of publications and their editions.
However, according to the Delhi government, CCRGA doesn’t have jurisdiction over the Delhi government. The advertisement content of Delhi government is regulated by its own State- level committee.
Source :
- THE HINDU
- DRISHTI IAS.
-ANKITA