PRASAR BHARATI BOARD MEETS VAJPAYEE ON AUTONOMY

I&B minister Pramod Mahajan suffered another setback last week. The Prasar Bharati (PB) board members met up with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and complained against Mahajan's interference in the working of the PB (the holding company of state-owned broadcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio). They told Vajpayee that they had no direct experience of Mahajan's interventionist attitude but they added that there was no question of any debate on PB's autonomy.

Mahajan has in recent times questioned the fact that the running of two state-owned-and-funded broadcasters will be left in the hands of a six-member board. He has been talking of starting a national debate on the same issue, saying that the PB should be answerable to government and not to an independent board. The board is vehemently opposing this move. The PB board members requested Vajpayee to take steps to fill up the vacancies, which have arisen in PB board and expedite the process of selecting a chairman, a finance and personnel head and a CEO. One of the members of the board B.H. Verghese opined that every government has interfered in broadcasting ever since India gained independence in 1947. Vajpayee has asked for some time to look into the PB's grievances.