I&B Ministry
Jaipal Reddy gets I&B; Maran communications, IT
MUMBAI: As predicted by indiantelevision.com, senior Congress leader S. Jaipal Reddy was allotted the information and broadcasting minister’s portfolio late last night. Reddy, who has been I&B minister before and was instrumental in piloting the Broadcasting Bill into parliament in 1997, will also handle the culture portfolio
The other important portfolio for the television industry is the communications minister’s. And that will be looked after by DMK elect Dayanidhi Maran. Maran’s elder brother Kalanidhi heads the Chennai-based Sun Television Network. Dayanidhi himself had steered the group’s cable TV operations SCV into the force that it is today.
Maran is quite well suited for the task and it is quite likely that he will do something for the cable TV sector because of his group’s strong involvement in the same. The issue of the rollout of conditional access halted last year and has been brought under the purview of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) which has been soliciting industry and the people’s view on the way forward. With Maran in the hot seat, industry should expect some firm decisions from the man on this score.
The key issue is whether Reddy will revive his pet Bill and again commence discussions on the setting up of a Broadcast Regulatory Authority of India quite distinct from Trai.
Lobbying has been on for the past couple of years to merge the I&B and communications ministry in an era of convergence. But some circles in industry have been expressing the view that broadcasting should be kept independent of communications and under the I&B ministry.
The other ministerial appointments include:
Cabinet Ministers
Shivraj Patil, Congress: Home
Pranab Mukherjee, Congress: Defence
P Chidambaram, Congress: Finance
Arjun Singh, Congress: Human resource development
Sharad Pawar, Nationalist Congress Party: Agriculture, food & civil supplies, consumer affairs and public distribution.
Laloo Prasad Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal: Railways
Ram Vilas Paswan, Lok Janshakti Party: Chemicals and fertilisers. He will also take charge of steel.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress: Parliamentary Affairs and urban development
S Jaipal Reddy, Congress: Information and broadcasting. He will also look after culture.
Sisram Ola, Congress: Labour and employment
Mahavir Prasad, Congress: Small scale, agro and rural industries
P R Kyndiah, Congress: Tribal affairs and development of the Northeast
T R Baalu, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam: Road transport and highways
Shankarsinh Vaghela, Congress: Textiles
Kamal Nath, Congress: Commerce and industry
H R Bhardwaj, Congress: Law and justice
P M Sayeed, Congress: Power
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, RJD: Rural development
Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, Congress: Water resources
Mani Shankar Aiyar, Congress: Petroleum & Natural Gas. He will also take charge of Panchayati Raj.
Sunil Dutt, Congress: Youth affairs and Sports
Shibu Soren, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha: Coal, mines and minerals
A Raja, DMK: Environment and forest
Dayanidhi Maran, DMK: Communication and IT
Meira Kumar, Congress: Social justice and empowerment
K Chandrasekhar Rao, Telangana Rashtra Samithi: Shipping
Anbumani Ramdoss, Pattali Makkal Katchi: Health and family welfare
Ministers of state (independent charge)
Santosh Mohan Deb, Congress: Heavy industries and public enterprises
Jagdish Tytler, Congress: Non-resident affairs
Oscar Fernandes, Congress: Statistics and programme implementation
Renuka Choudhury, Congress: Tourism
Subodh Kant Sahay, Congress: Food Processing
Kapil Sibal, Congress: Science and technology, ocean development
Vilas Muttemwar, Congress: Non-conventional energy sources
Kumari Selja, Congress: Urban employment and poverty alleviation
Praful Patel, NCP: Civil aviation
Premchand Gupta: Company affairs
Ministers of state
E Ahamed, Indian Union Muslim League: External affairs
Suresh Pachauri, Congress: Personnel, parliamentary affairs
B K Handique: Defence, parliamentary affairs
P Lakshmi, Congress: Health and family welfare
Dasari Narayan Rao, Congress: Coal and mines
Shaqeel Ahmed, Congress: Communications & IT
Rao Indrajit Singh, Congress: External affairs
Naranbhai Rathwa, Congress: Railways
Rehman Khan, Congress: Chemicals and fertilisers
K H Muniyappa, Congress: Road transport and highways
M V Rajasekharan, Congress: Planning.
Kantilal Bhuria, Congress Agriculture, food and civil supplies, consumer affairs and public distribution
Manikrao Gavit, Congress: Home affairs
Sriprakash Jaiswal, Congress: Home affairs
Prithviraj Chavan, Congress: Prime pinister’s office
Mohammed Taslimuddin, Congress: Heavy industries and public enterprises
Suryakanta Patil, NCP: Rural development, parliamentary affairs
Mohammed A A Fatmi, RJD: HRD
A Narendra, TRS: Rural development
R Velu, PMK: Railways
S S Palanimanickam, DMK: Commerce and industry
S Regupathy, DMK: Home affairs
K Venkatapathy, DMK: Law and justice
S Jegadeesan: Social Justice and empowerment
E V K S Elangovan, Congress: Petroleum and natural gas
Kanti Singh, RJD: HRD
Namo Narain Meena, Congress: Environment and forests
Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav, RJD: Water resources
Akhilesh Singh, RJD: Agriculture, food and civil supplies, consumers affairs and public distribution
An official government release pointed out that prime minister Manmohan Singh would look after the ministries that have not been allocated.
I&B Ministry
CBFC speeds up film certification; average approval time cut to 22 days
Over 71,900 films cleared in five years as digital system shortens approval timelines
MUMBAI:Â The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has significantly reduced the time taken to certify films, with the average approval timeline now down to 22 working days for feature films and just three days for short films.
Operating under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the statutory body certifies films for public exhibition in line with the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and the Cinematograph (Certification) Rules, 2024. The rules prescribe a maximum certification period of 48 working days, though the adoption of the Online Certification System has sharply accelerated the process.
Over the past five years, from 2020-21 to 2024-25, the board certified a total of 71,963 films across formats. Of these, the majority fell under the U category with 41,817 titles, followed by UA with 28,268 films and A with 1,878 films. No films were certified under the S category during the period.
Film approvals have also steadily risen in recent years. The CBFC cleared 8,299 films in 2020-21, a figure that peaked at 18,070 in 2022-23 before settling at 15,444 films in 2024-25. During the same period, 11,064 films were certified with cuts or modifications.
Despite the high volume of certifications, outright refusals remain rare. Only three films were denied certification over the last five years, with one refusal recorded in 2022-23 and two in 2024-25.
The board may recommend cuts or modifications if a film violates statutory parameters relating to the sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, defamation, contempt of court or incitement to an offence.
Filmmakers can challenge CBFC decisions in court. Data shows that such disputes remain limited but have seen some fluctuation. Between 2021 and 2025, a total of 21 certification decisions were challenged before High Courts, with the number rising to 10 cases in 2025.
Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, minister of state for information and broadcasting L. Murugan shared the data. The question was raised by Mallikarjun Kharge.
With faster timelines and a largely digital workflow, the certification process appears to be moving at a far brisker pace, signalling a shift towards quicker clearances for India’s growing film output.
