Parliamentary panel suggests real autonomy for Prasar Bharati

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

New Delhi, Aug 24 (UNI) A Parliamentary panel has raised serious question marks over the claims of the Government about the autonomy of the Prasar Bharati and advised a correction of the status.

The panel has found Section 32 of the Prasar Bharati Act as the main culprit.

The Section vests a whole lot of powers in the Government for making rules with regard to service conditions, salary and allowances and taking decisions with regard to investing of its funds, preparation of annual report etc, said the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting.

''Whatever the compulsions for retaining these powers with the Government, the Committee believe that the provisions are serious impediments coming in the way of the autonomy of Prasar Bharati,'' it said in its latest report tabled in the Rajya Sabha in its current session.

As compared to other public sector undertakings, Prasar Bharati was expected to act independently of the government, but the fact that about 70 per cent of funds required by it are provided by the government under Plan or non-Plan allocation, makes its break from government control difficult, said the Committee quoting the Secretary Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

The Secretary had said Prasar Bharati would never be able to achieve programme and editorial autonomy as long as they depended financially on Government.

It said the CEO Prasar Bharati had advocated tha BBC was the best model suited for any public service broadcaster. Another representative of the Prasar Bharati said that as the Act stood, it would probably require an amendment to the Act.

The Committee said, ''in the present context, the concept of autonomy sounds a little jaded as far as the Prasar Bharati is concerned and calls for serious measures to repair the same.'' It hoped the proposed financial restructuring of Prasar Bharati and funding of public service broadcasting operations would create favourable atmosphere for such a change.

While agreeing with the CEO Prasar Bharati that the corporation should not compete with commercial broadcasters and its main aim should not be revenue earning, the committee said maitaining a balance between public obligations and revenue generation has been a major challenge since its inception.

UNI

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