Karnataka circular on providing 2-page ads to newspapers run by Brahmins sparks controversy

“This order applies to all the district-level as well as regional-level dailies that are registered with the department,” stated the commissioner.

There are over 100 registered newspapers owned by the Brahmin community in the state.

Journalists speak out

Though the circular benefits the Brahmin community, many senior journalists from the community expressed displeasure at the government for identifying newspapers on the basis of caste, religion, and community.

Veteran journalist Gopal Naik, who owns the Sandarsha daily in Vijayapura, said: “It is a shame that the government is dividing newspapers along religious and caste lines. The government should have issued a single order to all the communities instead of separate circulars for SCs/STs, OBCs, and Brahmins.”

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“There was no such demand for newspapers owned by the Brahmin community until the government announced it for OBCs. Then, many newspaper proprietors of the community approached the tall leaders like Union Minister for Coals and Mines Pralhad Joshi, who is an influential leader in the community, and pressured the government,” he added.

“Even the Akhila Karnataka Brahmin Mahasabha appealed to the government to fulfil the demands of the journalists of the community. The government fulfilled the demands,” said Naik, who has been running the Sandarsha for six decades.

“As per the new order, there will be no discrimination in providing advertisements to the newspapers based on the community. Everyone will get an equal number of ads,” he said.

“Earlier, the ads used to be issued based on the community. The district and regional papers used to get government ads only during special occasions such as national festivals and the chief minister’s programmes,” explained Naik.

“Now, the government will issue all the one-page state-level ads to even district and regional level papers, irrespective of the case, twice in a month,” he pointed out.

Congress hits out at government

The Karnataka’s Congress unit objected to the circular, criticising the government for identifying the caste source of the newspapers.

Taking dig at Bommai, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Communication chairman and MLA Priyank Kharge tweeted: “The CM is loyal employee of Nagpur, (referring to the headquarters of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) who is following the order of Nagpur without fail.”

ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಗಳ ಜಾತಿ ಮೂಲ ಹುಡುಕಿ ಜಾಹಿರಾತು ನೀಡಲು ಹೊರಟಿದೆ ಬಿಜೆಪಿ ಸರ್ಕಾರ.

ಪ್ರತಿ ತಿಂಗಳು 2 ಪುಟಗಳ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಜಾಹಿರಾತು ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರ ಮಾಲೀಕತ್ವದ ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಮಾತ್ರವಂತೆ!
ಉಳಿದ ಜಾತಿಯವರದ್ದು ಪತ್ರಿಕೆಗಳಲ್ಲವೇ @BSBommai ಅವರೇ?

ನಾಗಪುರದ ಆದೇಶವನ್ನು ಚಾಚೂ ತಪ್ಪದೆ ಪಾಲಿಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ನಾಗಪುರದ ನಿಷ್ಠಾವಂತ ನೌಕರರಾಗಿದ್ದಾರೆ ಸಿಎಂ. pic.twitter.com/BDNC4kQtXT

— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) January 27, 2023

“The BJP government is finding the caste of the newspapers to provide the advertisements. Two-page government ads every month only for Brahmin-owned newspapers. The rest of the castes don’t have newspapers, Bommai?” asked Kharge.

The order for OBCs

With regard to issuing government advertisements to the newspapers, the DIPR issued a similar circular on 28 December, 2022, to provide two-page advertisements to newspapers owned by members of the OBC community.

In this order, it said: “On the orders of the government, it has been decided to provide two-page advertisements every month to the newspapers either owned or run (editor) by OBCs. The ads will be provided to only those papers that are registered with the information department.”

The two-page advertisements were to be given to only those newspapers that had at least four pages and had been publishing the news for the past five years in their respective regions.

The government also announced the list of such newspapers eligible for availing the monthly ads.