Telangana goof-up, government ad features woman with wrong man as husband

Hyderabad: A woman was featured in two print advertisements of Telangana government with one of them carrying a picture of another man as her husband, prompting an ‘embarrassed’ administration to issue notices to the ad agencies concerned seeking an explanation.

The advertisement highlighting newly launched government schemes in Telugu papers carried pictures of the woman and her husband, while the publicity material released for English papers had the photo of a different man as her spouse.

As the goof-up came in for criticism in the social media, the Information and Public Relations Department issued notices to the two agencies which undertook the ad campaign, seeking explanation, a senior official of the department said on Monday.

The notices also sought to know whether the agencies had obtained the consent of the woman to use her picture in the advertisements for 'Rythu Bima' (farmers’ life insurance scheme) and 'Kanti Velugu' (eye care initiative) that were released on August 14.

The information and Public Relations Department said it asked the ad agencies concerned to furnish relevant information pertaining to the advertisement.

"After ascertaining the facts, action will be initiated against the agencies if they had used the picture without proper authorisation," the department said in an official communication.

The woman, a native of Suryapet District, has said she was approached by some people a few days ago and they took her and her husband's picture, promising benefits under a government scheme.

However, she was shocked to see her picture in the advertisement with another man as her husband, the woman said, adding she also had to face criticism from family members.