DD OFFICIALS UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR
CORRUPTION
It was a scene straight out of a `B' grade
movie. Currencies of various countries worth over Rs 10 million
found stashed under a bed mattress and in suitcases and boxes.
That's what the sleuths of the Central Bureau of Investigation
found when they searched the three homes of a deputy director-general
(DDG) of Doordarshan, M.B. Pahari. He was arrested along with
a private studio owner Naveen Kohli of Video Track. Kohli
allegedly had greased Pahari's palms to air his programming
on DD apart and to ensure that the DD Delhi station used his
studio's facilities.
Pahari is the not the only official against
whom charges of graft are being framed. Three other senior
DDGs are to be shifted out of their present posts. These officials
include T.R. Malakar, K. Kunnhikrishnan and Anees-ul-Haq.
While the first gentlemen looks after DD Metro,
Kunnhikrishnan is responsible for sports programming and commercial
activities. The third official is in charge of programmes
meant for the troubled states of Jammu and Kashmir for which
every year DD earmarks a huge amount for commissioning of
programmes.
Information and broadcasting minister, Pramod
Mahajan, admitted on Friday last week: "I am afraid Pahari
is not the only corrupt official in DD."
Additional secretary in the I&B ministry, RR
Shah, who is also holding the additional post of Prasar Bharati
chief executive, said, "We are looking to overhaul the complete
setup of DD and more officials would be shifted out of their
current postings."
This is not the first time that charges of
corruption have been leveled against DD officials. Earlier,
too there have been similar rumblings, but proof had eluded
the investigating officers.
A private producer admitted that no file moves
without money exchanging hands in DD. "We have to pay money
for getting a time slot allotted to us for a programme that
has been cleared at all levels. This can take months if a
bribe is not given," he said.
Pahari has been accused of amassing wealth,
which is disproportionate to his known source of income. Not
only did the CBI sleuths discover cash at his residence, but
records showed that Pahari owned three flats, two of them
in areas where mostly the elite of Delhi have their outhouses
and farmhouses. Kunnhikrishnan's children are believed to
be studying in the US courtesy a scholarship awarded to them
by a private producer. Another senior official Rakesh Bahadur
is reportedly on a sabbatical in the US too.
Mahajan summed it up aptly: "We are all ready
to weed out corruption. But the real problem is finding officials
with integrity and getting them to replace the so-called `corrupt'
officials."
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