Central monitoring panel to shrug off I&B label

Having frittered away its energies on monitoring the content of radio, Fashion TV and commercials, the Central Monitoring Service (CMS) of t...

Having frittered away its energies on monitoring the content of radio, Fashion TV and commercials, the Central Monitoring Service (CMS) of the I& B Ministry is finally gearing up for its real job. And to facilitate that makeover, it is likely to be handed over to RAW or its affiliates.

Among the last decisions of the BJP-led NDA Government was to do away with the CMS as it was felt that the monitoring service was of little use to the I&B ministry. ‘‘The decision to do so was taken last month,’’ a source said, adding a final call on the subject would have to be taken by I&B Minister Jaipal Reddy.

The CMS, of late, had become the handmaiden of the I&B ministry, forced to do its dirty work of monitoring obscenity on 100-odd entertainment channels beamed into India. The CMS brought about several Ministry decisions — the ban on REN TV because of its adult content, the ban on a toothpaste commercial for it showed a female cop kissing a prisoner on death row and censoring FTV.

The main purpose of the wing, set up by the British way back in 1937, was to track information from various agencies across the world. After Independence, the CMS continued its job with Home and Defence ministries as its main clients. But, as ministers, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj got the CMS to watch out for obscenity on channels following ‘‘complaints from concerned public’’.

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