The Rajasthan government has decided to issue advertisements to social media influencers on various platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube – some of whom have millions of followers – to spread information and ensure better “accessibility” to the state government’s social welfare schemes, months ahead of the assembly elections due to be held later this year.
In a notification dated June 26, the Ashok Gehlot-led government said that while it regularly issues advertisements to print and electronic media, in the future, such advertisements will also be issued to social media influencers.
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The notification said that the influencers, who will be associated with the government’s initiative, can earn up to ₹5 lakh per month, on the basis of their follower counts and the content they produce, among other factors.
“In order to make the public welfare schemes of the state government accessible to the general public quickly, the Rajasthan government will give advertisements to social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, which are being operated from within or outside the state. The advertisements will be given to account holders, operators or social media influencers as per requirements and usage,” the notification said.
The government announced four categories of social media influencers who will be eligible to be a part of the initiative.
The highest A category will include influencers or account holders who have a minimum of 1,000,000 followers. The second B category will include those with 500,000 followers while the ‘C’ category will refer to those having 100,000 followers. The last ‘D’ category will include those with a minimum of 10,000 followers.
Besides the follower count, the government notification also provided details on the number of videos and posts shared by the concerned users per month, in the past six months. While category A users would need to have 100 videos or 150 posts per month, category B influencers should have a minimum of 60 videos or 100 posts.
Similarly, category C users would need to have 30 videos or 50 posts, category B influencers should have a minimum of 15 videos or 30 posts.
The government said that A category users can earn a maximum of ₹5 lakh per month while B, C and D category users can earn up to ₹2 lakh, ₹50,000 and ₹10,000, respectively.
The advertisements will be given based on the recommendation of a committee formed by the government, the notification said.
Government officials said “priority” would be given to those account holders or users who share content related to Rajasthani art, culture and development. The content cannot be “anti national” or “obscene” in nature, they said.
Political analyst Manish Godha said: The government seems to have decided to look at social media for better outreach. There have been meetings and interactions of social media influencers with leaders, and this is a counter to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s extensive use of social media.”
BJP spokesperson Mukesh Pareek questioned the purpose behind such an initiative, saying it was just meant to sway voters in the upcoming elections.
