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Journalism of Courage
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting S. Jaipal Reddy has urged the media to stop being so cynical over the Union government’s intentions about Prasar Bharati. Therefore, just this once, this newspaper at least will comply with that request. Yes, Mr Reddy, your move through the recent Presidential Ordinance to drop the 22-member Parliamentary Committee meant to oversee the functioning of Prasar Bharati is a very welcome, if obvious, one. After all, to have 22 members of Parliament, worthy though they may be, breathing down the necks of the members of the Prasar Bharati Board would just not have made for greater autonomy. There is already a Standing Committee on Communications and a Consultative Committee of MPs attached to the I&B Ministry which will presumably perform the sensitive function of overseeing its operations. The Ministry will also have its own nominee on the Board. So even under the revised set-up, there is considerable scope for governmental abuse. Reddy, to his credit, seems conscious of this and has indicated that he will ensure that these agencies behave themselves. But the nation, while putting systems in place, cannot afford to consider only the predilections of people who are currently in power. It will have to, perforce, take the long view and ensure that the system survives future politicians, who may not be so kindly disposed towards granting autonomy to institutions as politically useful as Doordarshan and Akashvani.
That is why the most significant aspect of the recent ordinance was the clarification it made on the issue of ownership. The assets of Doordarshan and Akashvani, which the Nitish Sengupta Committee had evaluated at Rs 55,000 crore, has now been officially handed over in perpetual lease to the Prasar Bharati. Along with this, the Union government has also significantly relieved itself of its powers to regulate advertising time. The other logical step that the recent Presidential ordinance effected was to do away with the Broadcasting Council, which was meant to have processed complaints against the Prasar Bharati. As several media analysts have already pointed out, it would have in any case been rendered redundant once the Broadcasting Authority of India, envisaged in the impending Broadcast Bill, came into existence.
Finally, everything hinges on that Bill. For now, the big picture is still hazy, especially since the 30 members comprising the Joint Parliamentary Committee set up to look into the Bill are known to have decidedly conflicting opinions on it. Still, Reddy remains optimistic that it will see the light of day in the forthcoming winter session of Parliament. Indeed, it is in the meshing of the Prasar Bharati Act and the Broadcasting Bill, once it become law, that Reddy’s skills as an I&B Minister will be most put to the test. Autonomy is not something that can be handed over like a slice of cake. The administrators and media personnel in both Doordarshan and Akashvani, will now have to learn to work for it and fiercely guard it. If the Prasar Bharati Act is to be meaningful, the spirit of autonomy should percolate into the very veins of both organisations and become an integral part of their work ethic.
