The government, while admitting yesterday that eight marketing agencies have been empanelled after following due processes, stated in parliament that no money has been spent on social media influencers to market government programmes or ministries or ministers.

“On 7th March 2023, MyGov issued Request for Quotation for engagement of Influencer Marketing Agencies. Eight agencies were empaneled following due process. Till date, no expenditure has been incurred for engaging any social media influencer,” Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting L. Murugan said yesterday in Lok Sabha (Lower House) replying to a query raised by a fellow parliamentarian on the issue.

Mygov.in is a citizen-centric platform that aims to empower people to connect with the government and contribute towards good governance.

The organisation and its related activities are aimed at collaborating with multiple government bodies and ministries and to engage with citizens for policy formulation seeking people’s opinion on issues/topics of public interest and welfare.

The Minister was responding to a query on whether several Union Ministers had appeared in interviews with influencers under the ambit of collaborations with MyGov and the details of the expenditure incurred on the agency/influencer. The question had dwelt on a broader issue too: whether it was a fact that the government intended to collaborate with social media influencers.

According to Murugan, MyGov is a citizen engagement platform for and it regularly engages with relevant stakeholders for disseminating information about government programmes directly and through empanelled agencies. “Interactions of Hon’ble Ministers and senior officers with media are part of such outreach activities,” he added.

FM Radio’s Expansion: Meanwhile, replying to a different set of queries on FM and AM radio activities in India, Murugan said that in new cities covered under FM expansion, the operators will be charged at the rate of four percent of their gross revenue annually, while in certain Union territories, governed directed by the federal government, the charges will be less.

“Annual License fees for FM channels in 234 new uncovered cities shall be charged at 4 percent of gross revenue, excluding GST. Further the permission holders in the states of North East and UT of Jammu & Kashmir and Island territories will be charged 2 percent of gross revenue, excluding GST, for an initial period of three years from the date of operationalisation of the channel,” the Minister said in his reply in Lok Sabha yesterday.

The government was asked about the number of FM stations run by the All India Radio and private FM radio operators and whether there was a proposal to issue new licenses to private companies with the likely revenue to be generated whether any concessions were being offered.

The Minister also informed that at present there were 585 Akashvani and 388 private FM radio stations operational in the country. In August, the government had approved auctioning of 730 private FM channels in 234 new uncovered cities, including three channels in Jammu and Kashmir.