I&B Ministry
MIB calls for ‘fiscal prudence’ in Prasar Bharati
NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) on Friday justified certain government directives to India’s publicly funded national broadcaster Prasar Bharati Corporation by saying “fiscal prudence” was the need of the hour, while reiterating its commitment to safeguard interest of the organisation’s employees.
“Fiscal prudence and accountability is the very fulcrum of the functioning of any government organisation. Prasar Bharati is as much bound by the general financial rules (GFR) of the government of India as any ministry or any organisation receiving grants-in-aid from the government,” MIB said in a statement, which, apparently, looks like a rebuttal to a report appearing in news website The Wire that questioned certain decisions of minister Smriti Irani.
MIB also termed the story, without directly referring to it, as a “deliberate, sinister (and) motivated campaign” to “tarnish” its image by putting out a report that was “based on ill-will and incorrect appreciation with half baked facts”.
“As per the provision of GFR, any autonomous organisation receiving grant-in-aid must sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ministry, clearly bringing out the physical and financial targets with timelines for activities to be done by utilising the said grant during that financial year,” MIB clarified further, adding, “For the record, irrespective of repeated reminders from the ministry, no MoU has been signed by Prasar Bharati.”
In a news report, headlined ‘Angered by Prasar Bharati’s Defiance, Smriti Irani Blocks Salary Funds for DD, AIR’, which went viral on social media over the last few days, The Wire quoted Prasar Bharati chairman Surya Prakash, serving his second term, as saying contingency funds were utilised to pay salaries to employees for the month of January and February 2018. It also concluded that if the standoff continued, the pubcaster will run out of money by April.
The story’s reporter, a freelance journalist who’s also written a book on BJP’s online troll army, highlighted that the federal government earmarked around Rs 2,800 crore in 2018-19 towards Prasar Bharati where the allocation is routed through the MIB, which releases monthly installments for the salaries of its approximately 5000 employees.
The report went on to state, quoting unnamed sources in the pubcaster, that the ministry had been “raising queries and creating problems” before releasing funds and, since December, has “not released money for salaries, forcing a drawdown of contingency funds”. The crisis, the report quoted the sources as saying, began when Prakash started questioning some of Irani’s actions.
It must be stated here that Indiantelevision.com is not in a position to independently verify the allegations made in The Wire report and has based its present news story on an official statement put out by MIB on the website of Press Information Bureau on a day when majority of Indians took a public holiday to celebrate the festival of colours – Holi.
However, illustrating how fiscal accountability led to “curbing of wasteful expenditure” in the Prasar Bharati, which controls Doordarshan and All India Radio, MIB said, “By bringing in Human Resource Information System in Prasar Bharati, at repeated insistence of the ministry, exact amount of expenditure on employees has been worked out and this has resulted in savings to the tune of nearly Rs 30 crore per month for the salary head (Rs 360 crore a year). The Sam Pitroda Committee had also suggested a number of measures such as manpower audit etc. to enhance financial discipline. Hence, we are hopeful that following similar footsteps, together a lot can be done to enhance transparency and accountability.”
At a media conference last week Irani had publicly questioned Prasar Bharati management’s ability in generating additional revenues. “The tragedy was that private broadcasters grew at the cost of [pubcaster] Prasar Bharati [riding DD’s FTA FreeDish platform],” Irani had said, adding, “How can we leverage the infrastructure that taxpayer has paid for so that good content is available [and] there is increased ad spend because of sheer power of reach of Prasar Bharati?”
Meanwhile, according to a report in The Economic Times, the MIB is scrutinising the pay packages given to senior officers in Prasar Bharati and pointing out cases of mismatch in positions to pay. Being an administrative ministry, it claims to have more power in deciding the pay for current and retired employees, superseding the directive of Prasar Bharati.
In one particular case, Rajeev Singh, an officer at the additional secretary position in the finance wing, is drawing the salary of a secretary. This leads to a difference in pay of Rs 20,000. Seven other employees in the rank of additional director general are being probed with regard to their appointments.
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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: 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.
