Minister Gurung urges local levels to channelize advertisements through official system

Kathmandu: Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Prithvi Subba Gurung has said the local levels have lost significant revenue from advertisements through hoarding boards.

Minister Gurung urged the local levels to channelize the advertising via hoarding boards within their systems and secure the revenues. The Communications and Information Technology Minister was speaking at ‘Capacity Development Programme on the Roles of Advertising Agencies for Advertisement Promotion’ organised by the Advertisement Board.

‘Let’s stop the practice of collecting revenues at the local levels through the contract system,’ he said. He also advised the local levels to collect the revenues from the advertisements to take place in local fairs and festivals.

‘It will be for the interests of the State to endorse the ‘model of Local Levels’ Advertisement recommended by the Advertisement Board,’ the Minister said. The Minister shared on the occasion that the government is planning to revise the Advertisement Act to regulate advertisements on the social sites.

Submissions regarding the draft of National Advertisement Policy from the Ministry of Finance and the National Planning Commission have been received and it will be soon endorsed by the Council of Ministers, according to the government Spokesperson.

The Minister vowed to search for further development and expansion of the advertisement market, by classification and standardization of media houses, and further systematization and transparency of government advertisements.

He said the government is serious about the concerns that advertisements for mass media have decreased, affecting media houses. Minister Gurung proposed to revise the Advertisements Regulations, 2077 BS to address the concerns of a significant revenue loss in advertisements in mass communications.

Stating that the Board has maintained transparency in the public welfare advertisements, the Minister pledged the distribution of public welfare advertisements by developing an advertisement mechanism at the province and local levels.

At the two-day capacity enhancement development programme, Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Information, Radhika Aryal, apprised that the Advertisement Act is in the process of amendment, expecting submissions from the Board towards that end.

Board Chair Laxman Humagain said the competition to place hoarding boards for advertisements has tarnished the beauty of cities, stressing the need for a systematising it.

RSS