'Poor marketing to blame for low sale of special coins'

Amritsar, August 20

People are blaming the government’s lack of marketing strategies behind the low sale of gold and silver commemorative coins released during the 400th anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur.

The local outlet of Phulkari Punjab Government Emporium managed to sell only 10 gold coins of 10 gm, 18 gold coins of five gm and 32 silver coins of 50 gm between August 2021 and February 1, 2022.

Naresh Johar, an RTI activist, who procured this information through an RTI Act, said the sale remained unimpressive earlier too. He held that there were two major reasons for this. Firstly, the government department neither promoted nor advertised these coins amply among public.

Besides, no attempt was made to open even a temporary sales office in the periphery of the Golden Temple.

Surinder Singh, a trader on Heritage Street, said a record number of tourists were visiting the Golden Temple and the department never attempted to open its outlet in its periphery. Easy accessibility among devotees contributed to the promotion of these coins, which in turn would have increased their sale.