The previous Assam government headed by Sarbananda Sonowal spent Rs 82.59 crore on newspaper advertisements in five years, the state assembly was informed on Wednesday.
Replying to a query by All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Karim Uddin Barbhuya during Question Hour, Information & Public Relations (IPR) Minister Pijush Hazarika said that those advertisements were published in 41 newspapers of various languages of the state.
To a related question, the minister said that the IPR department has empanelled 13 newspapers in Assamese language, followed by nine in English, and six each in Bangla and Hindi.
Hazarika said that the government does not have any mechanism to cross-check the circulation figure stated by the management of the papers, but it is under consideration now.
"There is no policy to collect the GST from the newsprint required for publishing the papers. However, the government is considering this option," the Minister informed the House. PTI