PMO spent Rs.1.2 million on newspapers in '09-10

NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) spent around Rs.1.2 million during 2009-10 on newspapers and periodicals that it subscribes to for its officials.The disclosure was made by the PMO in response to an application made under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by activist Afroz Alam Sahil.In response to Sahil's plea, the PMO said it subscribes to 43 newspapers and 45 periodicals in various languages, including Hindi and English.Sahil had asked how many newspapers and periodicals the PMO subscribed to and how much it spent on them in the last five years. The RTI activist had also asked for the annual expenditure on newspapers and periodicals by the PMO.Responding to the question on annual expenditure, the PMO said the newspapers and periodicals were bought from the Central News Agency, which was paid nearly Rs.1.19 million in 2009-10.The PMO said it paid Rs.908,735 in 2005-06, Rs.1.01 million in 2006-07, Rs.1.03 million in 2007-08 and Rs.1.20 million in 2008-09.