Government advertisements have been a mixed lot. Some are subtle in presenting a good image for the minister concerned. Some others are unabashed projections of the minister's leadership and contributions. Some ministers use the opportunity for advertisements to display loyalty to their party presidents and for lauding the "guidance and inspiration" provided by their party leaders in their work. Such advertisements become shameless indulgence in sycophancy and people naturally resent the practice of spending government money for such publicity.

Let us examine a few recent advertisements issued at heavy cost to public exchequer and see to what extent public interests, if any, have been served by them. Most of the daily newspapers of August 13 carried half-page advertisements by the Indian Railways with the photograph of a smiling Lalu Prasad Yadav, minister of railways, comparing the state of railways in 2005 with that in 2001.

The key words in the advertisement below the photograph of Lalu Prasad Yadav describe him as "a visionary who scripted the financial turnaround of Indian Railways." Unlike most other ministers, Lalu Prasad did not share his advertised glory with anyone else, including the Prime Minister or even his own minister of state. The advertisement gives the full credit for the claimed "financial turnaround of Indian Railways" to Lalu Prasad Yadav. It is relevant to note that advertisements of this type at public cost are appearing when the elections to the Bihar Assembly, in which the railway minister has a heavy stake, are expected to be held in two months' time.

A few days ago there was an advertisement by the government of Gujarat with the photograph of the chief minister and of Mahatma Gandhi listing out the various achievements of the government in the development of infrastructure, industries and services in the state and in attracting foreign investments. Here the not-too-subtle attempt was to project the Gujarat government as a successful example of fulfilling the Mahatma's dreams of making India an ideal state of peace and progress.

Mahatma Gandhi's photograph would have been more relevant in an advertisement for popularising programmes close to his heart such as khadi and village industries or improving the lot of the underprivileged sections of society like the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. But it was morally not quite justified to use the photograph of the Mahatma, the greatest human who ever walked on this earth in the 20th century, to promote the image of the Gujarat administration in the manner it was done in the advertisement.

Take another half-page advertisement which was issued by a state corporation of Punjab in the first week of August when Punjab was awarded the first place among the 20 large Indian states in a survey conducted by India Today magazine.

As this survey is conducted in an impartial manner by professionals, it has become a very prestigious one and Punjab has every reason to be happy at this recognition. However, what has surprised many readers is the fact that the advertisement was to extend congratulations to Sonia Gandhi, president, AICC and chairperson of the UPA, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and chief minister Amarinder Singh, for "making Punjab the state of excellence."

Most people fail to appreciate the need for an advertisement like this at public cost to congratulate these leaders for the state getting such an award. If at all congratulations were due through an advertisement, they should have been for the farmers, the industrialists and the common people of Punjab because it was their contribution which had won this recognition for the state.

One is tempted to say that if Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh are to be given congratulations for the achievements of the people of Punjab, then blaming them should also be in order for the poor ranking of some of the states ruled by their party like Assam and Andhra Pradesh which ranked only 16 and 11 respectively in a list of 20 large states covered by the survey.

One may even say that since the Congress is sharing power with the RJD in Bihar, the party's national leadership, on the same logic, should get a share of the blame for Bihar's 20th rank in the list of 20 states. It should also be noted that Punjab itself has ranked only at 12 in a list of 20 states on the important criterion of law and order; obviously the blame for this or the relatively poor showing of Andhra Pradesh or Assam cannot be placed on the party president or the Prime Minister. A little more balance and discretion would make advertisements at public expense more acceptable, if at all such advertisements are considered necessary.

It would be appropriate and advisable if instructions are issued to all ministries and to state governments by the Prime Minister to desist from spending public funds for advertisements carrying photographs of ministers or party leaders in newspapers on every activity or programme which they consider as important.

There are certain special occasions like Independence Day, state foundation day, etc., where advertisements giving information on the progress made by the Central ministries or state governments would be considered justified. In any case, there should be strict instructions to the ministries and to the state governments to ensure that advertisements paid for from public funds are not used by the ministers for their own image building.

Dr P.C. Alexander, formerly governor of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, is now a member of the Rajya Sabha

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