NEW DELHI, APRIL 9: Facing a stiff challenge from far leaner private television networks, Prasar Bharati is battling a vigorous opposition to redeploy part of its bloated 44,000 workforce in Doordarshan and All India Radio.Efforts by Prasar Bharati Board, the body which oversees functioning of DD and AIR, for optimum utilisation of the overstaffed organisation have met with stiff resistance from its employees who have threatened strikes and agitations, official sources said.While DD, which has a staff of 20,451, generated an all-time high revenue of Rs 610.29 crore, AIR with 24,321 employees earned Rs 90 crore in 1999-2000. This is against private TV channels, Sony and ZEE, projecting revenues of over Rs 400 crore each, with less than five per cent of the DD's workforce. While ZEE TV, which has ten channels has only 725 employees, Sony, with two channels, has a mere 200.As Prasar Bharati plans to set its house in order, the employees are protesting the redeployment orders being enforced to bring rationalisation and efficiency in the operation of DD and AIR across the country.There is a resistance among employees in New Delhi to be redeployed even a few kilometres away from the Parliament Street office to the CPC office in South Delhi, sources said.While AIR employs 7,269 engineering staff, 7,000 programme and 10,052 administrative staff, DD has 10,988 engineering staff, 3,921 programming and 5,542 administrative staff. Sources said the paradox of the situation was that nearly 100 AIR stations, set up at a cost of Rs 265 crore, were not giving full transmission due to non-positioning of staff.Besides, 12 radio stations, with an investment of Rs 26 crore, could not be commissioned and put to use for want of staff. Similarly, in Doordarshan 192 transmitters with an investment of Rs 160 crore were not being fully utilised for lack of adequate staff. Thirty-three DD maintenance centres are also not fully functional because of this. Ten studios and 50 transmitters could not be commissioned so far on grounds of lack of staff. The non-functional studio centres include Shanti Niketan, Allahabad, Varanasi, Jalpaiguri, Pune, Bhawanipatna, Indore, Gwalior and Jagdalpur.Citing an example, sources said 11 of the AIR offices and stations including some in Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta have excess staff of nearly 230, most of it in the engineering division. On the other hand, there are at least 13 AIR stations and regional workshops where staff deficit in the engineering category was to the tune of 180.One staff training institute of AIR and four regional workshops established with an investment of Rs 12 crore could not be made functional as the staff was not in position, sources said. As per ad hoc staffing norms, five major kendras of Doordarshan - Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai, Mumbai and Lucknow - have a surplus staff of 251 in engineering, 61 in programming and 176 in administrative departments.AIR spent nearly Rs 228 crore on payment of salaries and other allowances to its staff during 1998-99. It accounts for nearly 42 per cent of its total budget, 48 per cent of revenue expenditure and nearly 249 per cent of its revenue receipts. Doordarshan spent nearly Rs 210 crore on the salary and other allowances of its employees during 1998-99. It accounts for nearly 27 per cent of its total budget, 39 per cent of its revenue expenditure and about 50 per cent of its revenue receipts.
