I&B Ministry
Inflation, 6th Pay Commission taking toll on Prasar Bharati: Rathore
NEW DELHI: Prasar Bharati earned Rs 604 crore in revenue as against expenditure of Rs 1187.44 crore up to October this year for the financial year 2015-16.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore told the Parliament today that the revenue in 2014-15 was Rs 1124.43 crore as against expenditure of Rs 2132.98 crore, in 2013-14 it was Rs 1295.96 crore against expenditure of Rs 1945.84 crore and revenue in 2012-13 was Rs 1298.16 crore as against expenditure of Rs 1883.19 crore.
The Minister added that Prasar Bharati had said that with inflation and rising costs of TV channels, Doordarshan has also experienced gradual increase in operational costs. In addition, the implementation of various recommendations of 6th Central Pay Commission has led to increase in administrative and staff related expenses.
Since Prasar Bharati is a public service broadcaster, its functioning cannot be guided purely by commercial motives.
However, the Minister said Prasar Bharati is adopting an aggressive marketing strategy to increase the revenue receipts besides putting into best use its spare infrastructure available with the field formations across the country.
The Ministry provides financial support to Prasar Bharati under Plan and Non Plan heads, in the form of grants-in-aid. In the current financial year (2015-16), an amount of Rs 605.03 crore has been allocated to Prasar Bharati under Plan Head and Rs 2342.12 crore has been allocated under Non-Plan.
The Ministry has also allocated (through its Office Memorandum dated 27 August, 2015) a sum of Rs 11,116.79 crore [Rs 11,116.76 crore under Revenue Section and Rs 0.02 crore as Token Supplementary and Rs 0.01 crore as Token Supplementary under Capital Section as first batch of supplementary grant 2015-16] to Prasar Bharati subsequent to the approval of Ministry of Finance for the following:
(i) Conversion of a sum of Rs 5684.34 crore towards Loan-in-Perpetuity and Capital Loan into Grants-in-Aid for the period 1 April, 2000 to 31 March, 2010.
(ii) Waiver of an amount of Rs 4082.88 crore towards interest on Loan-in-Perpetuity, interest on Capital Loan and Penal Interests for the period 1 April, 2000 to 31 March, 2010.
(iii) Waiver of a sum of Rs 1349.54 crore towards accumulated arrears of Space Segment and Spectrum Charges accrued to Prasar Bharati up to 31 March, 2011.
I&B Ministry
Government sets up AI governance group to steer policy
AIGEG to align ministries, assess jobs impact, guide AI deployment.
MUMBAI: If artificial intelligence is the engine, the government is now building the dashboard and making sure everyone reads from the same screen. The Centre has constituted a new inter-ministerial body to coordinate India’s approach to AI, formalising a key recommendation from its governance framework and the Economic Survey. The AI Governance and Economic Group (AIGEG), set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, will act as the central platform to align AI-related policy across ministries, regulators and departments, an attempt to bring coherence to what has so far been a fragmented and fast-evolving landscape.
The group will be chaired by union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with minister of state Jitin Prasada as vice chairperson. Its composition reflects both technological and economic priorities, bringing together the principal scientific adviser, the chief economic adviser, and the CEO of NITI Aayog, alongside key secretaries from telecommunications, economic affairs and science and technology. A representative from the National Security Council Secretariat is also part of the group, while the MeitY secretary will serve as member convenor.
At its core, AIGEG is designed to do two things: coordinate and anticipate. On the policy front, it will review existing regulatory mechanisms, issue guidance across sectors and ensure companies remain compliant with evolving legal frameworks. Beyond that, it will oversee national initiatives on AI governance, with a focus on enabling responsible innovation rather than merely regulating it.
The economic dimension is equally central. The group has been tasked with assessing how AI-driven automation could reshape jobs identifying which roles are most at risk, where those impacts may be geographically concentrated, and whether technology will augment or replace human labour. Based on these assessments, it will develop mitigation strategies and transition plans, signalling a more proactive stance on workforce disruption.
In parallel, AIGEG will work with industry stakeholders to chart a long-term roadmap for AI adoption, categorising use cases into “deploy”, “pilot” or “defer” buckets depending on readiness factors such as data availability, skill levels and regulatory clarity. The aim is to move from broad ambition to structured execution deciding not just what can be built, but what should be built now.
The group will function as the apex layer in India’s AI governance architecture, supported by a Technology and Policy Expert Committee that will track global developments, emerging risks and regulatory priorities. Together, the two bodies are expected to shape both the pace and direction of AI adoption in the country.
In a landscape where technology often outruns policy, the creation of AIGEG signals an attempt to close that gap ensuring that India’s AI journey is not just rapid, but also coordinated, accountable and economically grounded.
