The district administration of Rajkot in Gujarat on Sunday refuted media reports that it had paid eight local reporters Rs 50,000 to ensure positive coverage of the Republic Day function held there.
A Gujarat daily had made the allegation in its Sunday edition and had further claimed the money, raised from corporates, was paid by cheques which had the signature of district collector Ramya Mohan.
In its clarification, the Rajkot administration said the entire procedure was transparent, involved no cash handouts, and was meant as payment to media organisations for advertising the Republic Day event, which was attended by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani himself.
Mohan said cheques were issued to reporters of local dailies for advertisement of events related to the state-level celebrations.
"A fund was created from contributions of different donors for public participation in the state-level Republic Day celebration in Rajkot. A bank account was opened and the donations were collected using crossed-cheques. The fund is audited by a chartered accountant," Mohan told reporters.
"We offer payment to media houses for advertisements. We set Rs 50,000 limit for advertisement for various functions related to Republic Day and offered the same amount to all the organisations," she said, and added there were no cash transactions involved.
She said cheques were given to "authorised reporters" of the these media organisations.
"The transactions were 100 per cent bonafide with the only intention being to publicize the events," Mohan asserted.
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