When Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, during his term as Chief Minister, released welfare schemes for the people, he heavily publicized them through newspaper and TV ads.
Those who did not receive such schemes, especially the middle and upper middle class population, felt perturbed and frustrated.
Despite repeated warnings that excessive publicity was unnecessary since the end beneficiaries already knew, the YCP government continued spending crores on such ads, irritating the majority while pleasing only a minor section.
Now, a similar mistake is being repeated by the TDP government.
Auto drivers were given Rs 15,000, citing losses due to free buses for women. However, this Rs 15,000 is meant for one year.
Despite that, the government made it a point to publicize the scheme through ads and organized rallies with auto drivers.
In some centers, traffic was jammed and these rallies thanking the government became a public nuisance and a source of irritation.
It is also said that if the government spends Rs X on a welfare scheme, it spends 2X on publicizing it through ads. But what purpose do these ads serve? They benefit no one except the media. Public money is wasted feeding newspapers.
During the YCP regime, the ads were primarily to benefit Sakshi. Now, the same activity is happening to feed top allied media houses.
Excessive hype and publicity for welfare schemes is suicidal, and experience has proven this. It remains unclear when the TDP-led allied government will realize this mistake.
