MADURAI: Once considered the backbone of election campaigning, offset printers in Madurai are seeing little work this Assembly poll season as political parties increasingly shift to digital outreach, leaving many in the trade without orders.
Traditionally, offset printing units played a key role in elections by producing wall posters, pamphlets, handbills, banners, and manifestos in large volumes. Madurai has long served as a major printing hub for the southern districts, led by a few major litho printers that have operated for decades.
However, stricter Election Commission of India (ECI) norms and the growing use of digital campaign tools have sharply reduced demand for conventional print material.
Under the present ECI rules, printers must collect signed publisher declarations, submit copies of printed materials to district authorities, maintain records on quantity and clients, and obtain pre-certification from Media Certification and Monitoring Committees (MCMC) for political advertisements. Wall stickers, flex boards, and banners also face restrictions.
Official sources in certification centres in districts including Madurai, Ramanathapuram, and Theni said that most submissions received from political parties this time have been video-based, while the number of posters, pamphlets, and other print advertisements has dropped compared to previous elections.
Speaking to TNIE, M Sheriff, owner of Kani Litho Offset, said the election season was once treated like a festival by printers. “If the election comes, we celebrate like a festival. Workers would work day and night in shifts to print wall posters and banners. Nearly 10,000 people, including machine workers, agents, and poster-pasting groups, depended on this work. Now, because of ECI restrictions, it has been replaced by digital platforms,” he said. He also added that wall posters and pamphlets played a major role in helping voters identify candidates, especially beyond major political parties.
Commission agent M Karnan from Othakadai said there had been no significant orders from political parties so far. “Major parties are placing bulk pamphlet orders in Sivakasi. We may get some orders only after results are announced, from winning candidates,” he said.
Echoing similar concerns, K Sasikumar, owner of Thirishuel Litho, said digital hoardings, social media, and mobile-based campaigning had drastically reduced reliance on traditional printing.
“For decades, offset printers produced pamphlets, posters, banners, and manifestos in large numbers. These were especially important in rural and semi-urban areas where digital access was limited. Now parties prefer instant and cost-effective digital communication, and many small and medium printing units are struggling,” he said. He added that skilled workers such as machine operators, designers, and binding staff were now facing fewer opportunities, and many were being pushed to seek work elsewhere. He said personal and cultural events such as weddings, obituary notices, and religious functions continued to provide some support to the industry.
Political parties, meanwhile, said digital outreach offered wider and faster visibility than conventional print campaigns.
On the rising demand for such campaigning, sources in Adinn Advertising Service Ltd said the use of full-LED mobile display vans had gone up this election compared to the previous cycle.
“Last time, most vehicles were single-side LED or flex models. This time, more double-sided, triple-sided, and fully LED vehicles are being used. Around 150 such vehicles had been deployed across major parties, including in Tamil Nadu,” said the sources.