GOVERNMENT CALLS OFF DD CHIEF HEADHUNT

The government has directed its recruitment arm, the Union Public Services Commission, to call off the hunt for a chief executive for state-owned broadcaster Doordarshan. DD has been in the midst of controversy with I&B minister Mahajan saying that it has to be answerable only to Parliament and that it should not be given autonomy as envisaged by the previous government. As part of the process to revert control of the broadcaster to government, the Prasar Bharati CEO S.S. Gill was asked to relinquish his post last year. (Prasar Bharati is the holding company of DD and state-owned radiocaster AIR). The broadcaster was also made answerable to a committee consisting of politicians.

With the calling off of the selection of a director general for DD, it will now be unofficially headed by AIR director general and Prasar Bharati acting CEO O.P. Kejriwal. Observers say that this move has effectively brought back control of DD and the Prasar Bharati in the government's hands as Kejriwal has been averse to contradicting any decisions taken by the information and broadcasting ministry.