Broadcasting Bill will come, says I

New Delhi, Aug 1: Ruling out that there were any serious differences over the proposed Broadcasting Services Regulation Bill, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi today said that the Bill would be brought soon.

He, however, did not give any timeframe. The Government had earlier said that it wanted to introduce the Bill in the monsoon session of Parliament.

''There is no opposition to the Bill. I can well assure you that it will be an ideal legislation on the media and the best in the world,'' said Mr Dasmunsi.

The Ministry has prepared the Bill and the content code on the basis of the gist of discussions it had with the broadcasters and various stakeholders, so it can say it with confidence that it has followed democratic practices in preparation of the Bill, he said.

He also reiterated that the provisions of the Bill would in no way interfere with the freedom of the media.

The broadcasters are opposing the Bill mainly for the content code it entails and the restrictions on the cross-media ownership.

UNI