J&K govt's print ad spend raises eyebrows: 26 per cent of Rs 70 crore went to 5 dailies

Srinagar, Aug 6: The Jammu and Kashmir administration led by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha spent at least ₹70 crore on print advertisements between April 2022 and October 2024, according to an analysis of two Right to Information (RTI) replies accessed by Newslaundry.

The data points to a highly skewed distribution pattern, with just five newspapers cornering more than a quarter of the total ad spend.

The analysis, as per Newslaundry is based on two RTI applications submitted by citizens in Srinagar.

The first, filed by Mohammad Iqbal Wani, editor-in-chief of Iqbal E Kashmir, provided details of government advertising given to 147 newspapers between April 2023 and October 2024.

The second, submitted by Bilal Ahmad Mir, offered data on ads issued to 140 newspapers from April 2022 to March 2023.

As the RTI responses listed only the size of ads in centimetres, Newslaundry calculated the approximate value by applying the lowest government-approved rates, which start at ₹75 per cm for black-and-white inner page ads. Premium rates go up to ₹135 per cm for colour ads on front pages, reported the news portal.

Top Gainers

The top five beneficiaries, based on estimated ad revenue, were:

Rising Kashmir – ₹7.73 crore

Aftab Daily – ₹3.7 crore

Srinagar News – ₹2.5 crore

Kashmir Images – ₹2.26 crore

Kashmir Monitor – ₹2.1 crore

These five — three English and two Urdu dailies — collectively received 26% of the total spending, highlighting a concentration of government advertising funds among a select few.