I&B ministry mulling amendments to Prasar Bharti Act-December 22, 2010

I&B ministry mulling amendments to Prasar Bharti Act

Press Trust Of India

New Delhi, December 22, 2010

First Published: 20:13 IST(22/12/2010)
Last Updated: 20:14 IST(22/12/2010)

(Prasar Bharati (Hindi: प्रसार भारती; literally Broadcasting Corporation of India) is India's largest public broadcaster. It is an autonomous body set up by an Act of Parliament and comprises Doordarshan television network and All India Radio which were earlier media units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.

Prasar Bharati was established on November 23, 1997 following a demand that the government owned broadcasters in India should be given autonomy like those in many other countries. The Parliament of India passed an Act to grant this autonomy in 1990, but it was not enacted until September 15, 1997)..FOR MY REFERENCE...VIBHA TAILANG)

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry is mulling amendments to the Prasar Bharti Act to make it "conducive" for better functioning of the public broadcaster without tampering with the spirit of the autonomy of the legislation. "We do not want to tamper with the Act," Information and
Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters here today, a day after CEO B S Lalli was suspended setting in motion the process of his removal.

She, however, added that through amendments, "we would like to make the act as healthy and as conducive to a public broadcaster as possible."

The minister was answering a question on whether the government is thinking of amending the Prasar Bharti law in the wake of a lengthy process involved in taking action against the CEO.

The I&B ministry sent Lalli the suspension letter today after it received the Presidential communique approving the action.

President Pratibha Patil had yesterday ordered the suspension of Lalli, who is in the eye of a storm facing allegations of irregularities in the country's largest public broadcaster.

Soni said that the Group of Ministers on Prasar Bharti, headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram, would be presented with the proposed amendments.

The Information and Broadcasting Secretary was given three to four months to look at some amendments and he would be formulating his report shortly, she said.

Sources in the ministry said that the amendments would also look at the employee problems of the public broadcaster like payment of salaries and promotions.

A proposal might be put forward before the GoM of the I and B Ministry taking over the payment of salaries and dues and splitting into half with the public broadcaster the other costs recurred.

The sources said that nobody has been appointed to replace Lalli as he has not been removed but only suspended pending inquiry.

The Presidential action clearing suspension came after the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) forwarded to Patil the letter by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry recommending the suspension of 63-year-old Lalli, a 1971-batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre.

According to the Prasar Bharati Act, the Chairman or a Member of PB can only be removed by an order of the President on the ground of misbehaviour after the Supreme Court holds an inquiry following a reference to it.