In a review meeting of officers and employees of the Media Monitoring Cell on the instructions of Chief Electoral Officer VL Kantha Rao, Joint Chief Electoral Officer Rajesh Kaul said that work in connection with paid news should be done with utmost care.

Paid news is any news for which payment has been made for publication. The same advertisement regarding any party or candidate has been published in all the newspapers.

The Joint Chief Electoral Officer said that paid news will be a serious issue in the Vidhan Sabha election and should be monitored with total seriousness. Vigilance should be maintained in the monitoring of every channel of the print and electronic media. The expenditure limit for candidates in the Assembly elections is Rs 28 lakhs, and if the limit is exceeded, the candidate will be disqualified.

The expenditure limit has been determined by the Election Commission of India to ensure fairness and equality in elections. If Paid News is declared, its expenditure will be added to the candidate's expenditure. Chief Nodal Officer, Additional Director Public Relations LR Sisodia besides officers and employees were also present during the meeting.

Kaul said that the media monitoring cell should check if any exaggerated details of any candidate are being given and if there is any candidate who is getting news published in his favour in his own newspaper or electronic channel then its expenditure will be included in the paid news category. Constant news in praise of any political party or in favour of any candidate and news that glorifies any candidate will also be included in the Paid News category.