Delhi-based news-readers miffed with AIR move to launch 24-hour news channels

Prasar Bharti officials, however, claim that the move was in tune with the recommendations of experts. Harish Awasthi, Director General incharge of News in Prasar Bharti, told The Indian Express that the “broadcast of national news from Delhi was a British tradition which needed to be done away with”. Chanting the de-centralisation mantra, Awasthi further said: “The British needed to control India from Delhi. I feel our polity had changed and we need to look at news from a different perspective.”

Awasthi added that once the news units start functioning from other centres, AIR would become world’s first radio network to link the proposed eight FM news stations via satellite. He claimed that eventually, they planned to augment the 40 AIR stations eacg with an additional 24-hour FM news channel.

In the first phase, the Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali and Dogri units are being shifted out. Most of the news-readers are reluctant to move out of Delhi. “I know soon I will be shifted to the surplus cell for my disobedience,” said the head of one news unit.

Apart from personal problems due to dislocation, the news-readers say the move would apparently “demean the national character of the regional news”. “Sitting in Gujarat, it is unlikely that I would develop a national and international perspective on news,” claimed another news-reader, adding: “Dislocating one’s family without any professional challenge to look forward to is meaningless.”

But Awasthi says that there have been complaints against these news-readers that they “are using outdated language and are not up-to-date modern radio language”.

Prasar Bharti authorities point out that with the Internet revolution, the location of news units has become a non-issue. In reply, the news-readers point to the disconnected PCs in the news rooms in Delhi. “When here — with massive infrastructure and staff — we cannot go online within the AIR premises, I can’t imagine what will happens in states where infrastructure is not much developed,” said a Marathi news reader.

Prasar Bharti authorities, however, say the “news readers have developed a vested interest in staying on in Delhi and have been lobbying with political bigwigs to stall the signing of the proposal by the Prasar Bharti Board”.