Amid vlogger row, Kerala govt approves ₹96 lakh for weekly social media campaign

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid controversy over the ₹75 lakh spent in February on vloggers, including Jyothi Malhotra—who was later arrested in an espionage case—the Kerala government has now sanctioned ₹96 lakh for producing weekly vlogs and reels. The initiative aims to showcase the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s development and welfare schemes across its two consecutive terms, highlighting achievements over the past decade through the reach of social media influencers.

As part of the plan, four prominent social media vloggers with the highest follower base will be selected to produce one episode per week. Each episode will have a maximum production budget of ₹60,000, with the project running for 40 weeks. The official order was issued on July 2. A working group under the Department of Information and Public Relations will be responsible for identifying suitable influencers at the national, state, and regional levels.

For the current financial year, the government has earmarked ₹4.48 crore for a broad range of video and documentary production initiatives. These include the Navakeralam weekly television show, short films and corporate videos, the Priya Keralam TV programme, the Janapatham weekly radio broadcast, informational videos, video archiving, and documentary films.

In addition, the government has allocated ₹53.54 lakh to settle outstanding dues from previous years related to video and documentary productions.