(a) whether the common man is not getting the proper benefit of majority of the welfare schemes due to lack of wide publicity of these schemes;
(b) if so, the details thereof and whether the Government proposes to give wide publicity to its ongoing/proposed schemes;
(c) if so, the details thereof and the amount spent for this purpose during each of the last three years and the current year; and
(d) the details of the monitoring mechanism put in place for the proper utilisation of the funds?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS
(RAO INDERJIT SINGH)
(a): No, Madam, all Government schemes have budget component for publicity and outreach.
(b)&(c): The expenditure incurred on advertisements issued on behalf of various Ministries/Departments by Bureau of Outreach and Communication (BOC) (erstwhile Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity) through Electronic, Print and other media from 2014-15 onwards is as under:
Financial Year Expenditure (Rs. in Crores)
2014-15 979.78
2015-16
1160.16
2016-17
1264.26
2017-18
1313.57
(d): The Centrally Sponsored Schemes(CSSs) are reviewed periodically on the basis of guidelines of the individual Schemes by the implementing Departments/Ministries. Such reviews by Central Ministries ordinarily have the provision of assessing performance under the Schemes for key indicators and measures to rectify any shortfall, including taking the benefit of the scheme to targeted population, subject to overall availability of the budget under the concerned scheme.
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