Delhi’s lokayukta, justice Manmohan Sarin, has been doing a commendable job. In a series of interventions in recent months, he has shown what a lokayukta, or the proposed lokpal, can do to clean up the mess politicians often create.

The latest from his office is a recommendation to the president that chief minister Sheila Dikshit be cautioned and advised to reimburse Rs 11 crore of public funds spent on government advertisements.

Acting on a complaint from former Delhi BJP president Vijender Gupta, justice Sarin found that public money was used to fund an advertisement campaign in the run-up to the 2008 assembly elections and recommended that Dikshit reimburse half the cost spent on it.

This should set a precedent.

As senior advocate HS Phoolka, who appeared for Gupta, told the Indian Express, "This is for the first time that a lokayukta in India has recommended action against a CM for misuse of public exchequer for a political campaign through government advertisements."

Moreover, according to Phoolka, the lokayukta has also recommended “framing of guidelines for publication of government advertisements regarding developmental works and incorporating safeguards to prevent misuse of public funds”.

That is the most heartening part of the story. Full-page and multi-page newspaper advertisements and hoardings, with one or more photos of chief ministers and union ministers, have become so common that we have come to accept it as part of life, nothing worth questioning.

Sheila Dikshit is, in fact, less guilty on this count than many of her counterparts in other states. In Delhi, half the bus stops have large panels with some message from the CM without photographs. Cross over to Noida and during the Mayawati regime her face was everywhere.

In Gujarat, the entry point of every village and every state transport bus, and at least one hoarding in every town, has the benign, smiling face of the chief minister. On Wednesday, Mamata Banerjee finally joined Jayalalithaa in placing a two-page advertisement on completion of two years of her government.

And, of course, this month the UPA has decided to spend Rs 180 crore of our money to tell us about its achievements. This is not to mention the anniversary ads commemorating the memories of the great departed leaders who are otherwise in public consciousness only for things like the anti-Sikh riots or Bofors scam.

But, then, if there is a department for publicity – DAVP for the centre and its counterparts in the states – what else is expected from it? What originally was expected from them was public service/awareness campaign – for example, awareness drives of the ‘we-two-our-two’ children variety in old days and the polio vaccine campaign in recent years. But given the way our governments work, they were bound to be reduced to sarkari PR shops (and some states have now even outsourced this to private PR shops).

Lokayukta justice Sarin’s recommendation of framing of guidelines must be followed up. It remains to be seen, however, who will.