Fearing saffronisation, Oppn attacks Govton Prasar Bharati

Initiating the discussion, Congress member Jaipal Reddy attacked the BJP for taking the ordinance route although he admitted that he too as Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the United Front Government had employed the same step.

Sengupta tried to counter the attack by saying that even when Reddy promulgated the ordinance the UF Government had lost its support following withdrawal of support by the Congress.

But here Sengupta seemed to falter for Reddy clarified that the Congress had only issued a threat of withdrawal of support while it had not gone all the way to the President with aletter.

The long-drawn debate on the broadcasting body finally ended with Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley rejecting the Opposition’s charge that the BJP was trying to "saffronise" Prasar Bharati. Not satisfied by the minister’s reply, the members of the Congress and Left parties walked out of the House.

Earlier, in a spirited attack on the BJP’s attempts to "saffronise" and stifle Prasar Bharati, Reddy said the party was conducting an orchestrated campaign to promote the notion that the Prasar Bharati had failed. No rules had been framed, nor a chairman appointed to the board, all of which was part of a "deliberate policy of inaction", he said.

Interestingly, Sengupta, who headed one of the many committees on Prasar Bharati, now feels that giving autonomy to Prasar Bharati has become largely irrelevant due to the eight-year delay in enforcing the legislation during which time the entire electronic media had undergone a complete change.Sengupta wanted the Government to recast thePrasar Bharati Act keeping in view the changes in the broadcasting scenario.

Not mincing words Jaitley accused the then United Front government of causing "great harm" to the concept of autonomy by appointing persons with "political leanings" on the Prasar Bharati board during its last days in office.

Justifying the removal of noted historian Romila Thapar and Rajendra Yadav from the Prasar Bharati board he said this was done in keeping with the law and not at the "discretion" of the government.

"If red is autonomy, how can saffron be a threat to autonomy," Jaitley countered, adding, "There is no question of appointing persons of one ideology or another".