Telangana government to collect media ad revenue

Hyderabad: The Telangana government is planning to collect a small percentage of ad revenue from media and earmark it for welfare of journalists in the state. However, a decision on restricting the media at the Secretariat did not figure in the meeting convened by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao with journalists. The issue was postponed to the next meeting.

However, Telangana Press Academy chairman Allam Narayana said there would be no curbs on media in Secretariat, but only a regulation. The CM approved Rs 10 crore corpus fund for welfare of journalists. The money

would be parked with Telangana State Press Academy (TSPA) and the interest accrued would be used for welfare of journalists including the kin of the dead. Mr Rao said he ensure that the corpus fund grows into Rs 100 crore in a phased manner. “The government will collect a small portion of ad revenues of government and private ads in media and add it to the corpus fund,” he said.