I&B Ministry
Irked with DD, North-East TV producers to submit memo to I&B minister
NEW DELHI: The producers of TV programmes from the Northeast (comprising eight states of the country) have taken up cudgels against alleged malpractices prevailing in India’s pubcaster Doordarshan and its regional centre.
In a memorandum, which is to be submitted to the information and broadcasting minister Jaipal Reddy tomorrow, the NE Producers Association has alleged that sanctioned funds for commissioned and royalty-based programmes have not been released by Prasar Bharati.
Prasar Bharati looks after the functioning of DD and its sibling All India Radio.
As an example, the association has said that for works done under the commissioned category about 50 per cent of the producers of the region are yet to get their payments for completed programmes.
In what could be a damaging allegation, the association has said that the officially allocated money has not been released since financial year 2001-02 by DD’s Guwahati regional centre for programmes. The money was to be allotted under the commissioned and royalty categories for a 24-hour satellite channel, meant for the region.
Pointing out that the withheld accumulated amount- that adds up to Rs 1421 million- the yet-to-be-submitted memo states, “Surprisingly not a single rupee was released against this allocation (and) as a result, the channel has to repeat programmes, and collect old programmes from other kendras (centres) of this region.”
Amongst some other demands, the NE producers Association has said that money allocated for programmes to be outsourced should be released by October. They also insisted that various regional centres of DD of the region should be upgraded and an apathetic attitude of National Film and Development Corporation towards filmmakers from N-E region should be done away with.
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.
