Printers in Odisha’s twin cities fear their business will be slow this election
Bhubaneswar: Elections generally mean brisk business for those involved in printing. But this time the situation is different as the printing press owners of Twincity are expecting sluggish business.
With the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct, announcement of candidates by political parties is going on and campaigning by some candidates has also started, but many printers have not received orders from any political party or candidate yet. Only a handful have started printing promotional material. He feels that the growth of social media and the Election Commission’s restrictions on political advertisements are affecting his business this season.
Elections come and the printing press sees a boom in business as orders for political banners, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, voter slips called ‘chirkuti’ and other election materials are placed in huge quantities. “But this time, orders are negligible so far. Siddhartha Das, who runs Shree Satyanarayana Press in Cuttack, said, we are waiting for orders from political parties and candidates to file nominations.
He pointed out that social media has impacted the printing business to some extent as candidates are focusing on digital platforms to reach out to voters. “With the advent of social media, the traditional election campaign has undergone a major change compared to the 2019 elections. The trend now is to target voters through digital and social media advertising. Moreover, it has now become easier to improve the visibility of the candidate through social media posts from random accounts, even if he does not opt for digital advertisements,” he said.
Sources said that generally a candidate spends Rs 50,000 to Rs 80,000 on printing campaign material. The expenditure increases further depending on the campaign strategy of the candidate. The cost of a digital ad for seven days on social media starts from Rs 400 and increases according to the reach required.
What makes the situation worse this time is that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has strict rules on the use of unauthorized political advertisements like posters, wall writing, hoardings and banners in both public and private places. “Since permission from election authorities is now mandatory for pasting any election-related material on walls, candidates are reluctant to print it,” said Bhramar Sahu, a printer in the capital city. As per ECI norms, no government land or building can be used for hoisting party flags, putting up hoardings and wall writing. Additionally, those publishing election-related pamphlets and wall posters must publish details of printers and publishers as everything will have to be accounted for.
