The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has thrown a spanner in the works of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which planned to put up huge hoardings of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s photographs along all national highways.
Going a step further, it directed all Central ministries and departments not use the Prime Minister’s photographs without prior approval. “Photograph of the Prime Minister cannot be used by any Ministry /Department without specific approval of the PMO,” said a note by the PMO to Cabinet Secretary K. M. Chandrasekhar.
The PMO swung into action after reports that the NHAI would soon be implementing a Rs.60-crore project erecting 1,500 billboards with Dr. Singh’s photographs.
Congress president and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s photographs were also to be put on all the 20×10 foot billboards dotting every 25 km of the national highways.
Responding to a Right To Information (RTI) Act application by Delhi-based activist S.C. Agrawal, the PMO said no permission was sought from either the Prime Minister or the PMO regarding use of Dr. Singh’s photographs on the billboards.
“The Cabinet Secretary has been requested, with a copy endorsed to Chairman, NHAI, to suitably reiterate instructions to all Ministries / departments of the Government of India that the use of photograph of the Prime Minister should be done only with prior approval of the PMO,” it said in its reply to Mr. Agrawal’s queries.
The PMO is being more cautious after the fiasco in which Dr. Singh’s photograph appeared along with that of the former Pakistan Air Force Chief’s in an advertisement.