new delhi the press council of india pci has held rajasthan chief minister ashok gehlot guilty of discriminating against rashtradoot a hindi daily in the state and stopping state government advertisements to the publication for nearly three years on grounds that it was not publishing news in favour of the governmentthe pci also expressed extreme displeasure over gehlots statement during a press conference in jaipur on december 16 2019 where he said only those newspapers that publicise and propagate government schemes with full conviction will be given state government advertisementsthe pci had taken suo motu cognisance of gehlots statement issued a notice to the state government and sought its explanation after an internal inquiry the council adopted the inquiry report on november 15it said the statement made by the chief minister that advertisements will be issued to those newspapers which give publicity to government schemes is a development that is likely to restrict the supply and dissemination of news of public interest and importance if such statements are brought into action it is likely to adversely affect the economic viability of certain newspapers to whom the advertisements may not be released because of political considerations and that will cripple their capacity to supply and disseminate news of public interest and importancerashtradoot with eight editions was the thirdlargest circulated hindi daily in rajasthan the lack of government advertiseme nts however brought it down to the eighth spot in terms of revenue from advertisements holding the cm and rajasthan government accountable for its discriminatory approach and in breach of the state governments model advertisement policy guide 2014 pci also rejected its claim that the council had no jurisdiction in the matter