Prasar Bharati Act may take a year to see the light of day

Gujral is learnt to have favoured Pai Panandiker, chairman of the Centre for Policy Research, for the job while Reddy wanted Justice B P Jeevan Reddy, who has retired from the Supreme Court last year. Gujral shooting down Reddy’s choice resulted in the stalemate. The selection of Panandiker has also not come through yet. He told The Indian Express that while in 1990, his consent had been sought for his appointment, this time around he was not approached.

The issue of who will appoint the third member — the Government or the President is another problematic area. The Selection Committee is to comprise the chairman of the Rajya Sabha (also the Vice President), Chairman of the Press Council of India (both are ex officio members) and a third member who will be a nominee of the President of India.

Normally this means an appointee of the Government. But for some reason this has become a contentious issue which has not yet been settled. Even if the third member is to be selected directly by the President himself, it should have been simple enough for the I&B secretary to have written to the President’s secretary and initiated the process.

There are also divergent views in the government on the content and timing of amendments to the Prasar Bharati Act, which was hastily and badly drafted in 1990, and which was pulled out of the archives last month after gathering dust there for seven years. Though passed by both Houses of Parliament in 1990 and given Presidential assent, it could not be notified before the V P Singh government went out of power.

One of the provisions which has come in for growing criticism has been about the 22-member Parliamentary committee to oversee the functioning of the Prasar Bharati Board. As Justice P BSawant, Chairman of the Press Council of India, put it, “Any outside body overseeing the functioning of the Board will certainly erode the autonomy of Prasar Bharati and go against the Supreme Court’s judgement on the issue.

Any corporation has to lay before Parliament its annual report, but this is different from a Parliamentary committee to oversee operations”. Even P Upendra, who had introduced the Bill in Parliament, 24 days after taking over as I&B minister in 1990, now feels that the MPs’ committee should be done away with. “Since there is a standing committee of Parliament on Communications, there is no need for a separate committee”. He had provided for a 22-MP committee, he said, because Prasar Bharati was treated as a public undertaking and these have to be under the supervision of some parliamentary committee.

Four days ago, the Union Cabinet gave its go ahead to Reddy to bring an ordinance to effect the necessary amendments in the Act, including the scrapping of the MPs’ committee. But government circles are unsure of how the other parties will react and an ordinance has after all to be approved by Parliament within six months.

The delay in operationalising the Act has fuelled speculation over whether the government is getting second thoughts on what has been projected as its pet project. “No,” said Reddy, “I never get second thoughts about my first principles. The Prasar Bharati Board is going to be constituted positively this month”.

There is a view in political circles that having taken the jump, the government may now want to spin out the process so that it can the reap the benefits of the present system as long as possible. While it will operationalise the Act, it may take its own sweet time doing it. That way it can also preserve its liberal face. For, as many a political leader has pointed out, it is very difficult for any government to forego such a powerful media. Many around Gujral have been underscoring the advantages of having the Prime Minister’s functions covered live, which might not be possible once Doordarshan becomes an autonomous corporation.

Though Gujral had ticked off Reddy and his Ministry officials for the ban on DTH TV Reddy has been a blue-eyed boy of Gujral and is not expected to do anything without a nod from him.