News Broadcasting
Prasar Bharati to expand employee base
NEW DELHI: Prasar Bharati Corporation (PBC) wants to add more flab to its 40,000 plus employee base.
Reason: there are not enough programming and technical staff to man predominantly Doordarshans expansion which has been unleashed to cover 100 per cent of the population.
“The Corporation has made its intent known that it wants to go in for fresh recruitment in certain areas,” a senior official of the information and broadcasting ministry told indiantelevision.com.
Though Prasar Bharati, overseeing the working of pubcasters All India Radio and DD, is an autonomous body, on certain issues like fresh recruitment of personnel, it has to go back to the ministry to seek permission.
The ministry official pointed out that some presentations on opening up the avenues for more recruitment has been made by PBC and the issue “is being studied at the moment.”
“We understand that the Corporation has more than 40,000 employees on its payrolls and still it wants to recruit people. But there may be a some rationale as a major part of the employee base is dominated by engineering staff , while some other areas like programming, PBC says, dont have adequate staffers,” the I&B ministry official added.
However, the ministry official added that the general attitude pervading amongst the staffers of the Prasar Bharati has to change to meet the challenges of a changing scenario where private broadcasters are making rapid strides.
“We understand that most employees of Prasar Bharati still act and function as government employees, while an autonomous body, specially a corporation like Prasar Bharati, ought to be more vigilant and efficient professionally,” the ministry official admitted, hinting that even while retaining its pubcasters image both AIR and DD have to change to take on competition.
Critics are of the opinion that despite being an autonomous body most of the PBC employees still live in a time warp and behave as if they are government employees where `chalta hai (casual) attitude rules supreme.
It is another thing that a section in the Prasar Bharati feels that despite the Prasar Bharati Act 1990 being given effect on September 15, 1997, the Corporation has not been able to yet cut its umbilical cord from the government because of the indirect influence of the I&B ministry on the Corporation.
Doordarshan originates about 1300 hours of programmes every week on its various channels through 40 programme production centres all over India and in recent times there is a push to increase in in-house quality programming.
DD also has 800-odd transmitters and a multitude of satellite transponders and has both terrestrial as well as satellite transmission facilities with its signals reaching about 86 percent of India’s population.
News Broadcasting
Rising Bharat Summit 2026 spotlights India’s global ascent
PM Modi keynotes two-day event with ministers, diplomats and icons in New Delhi.
MUMBAI: India didn’t just host a summit, it threw a coming-out party for a nation ready to own the global stage. The News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2026, held on 27–28 February in New Delhi, emerged as a high-octane platform for ideas, vision and strategic dialogue, uniting national leadership, global policymakers, industry titans, defence strategists and cultural icons under the theme “Strength Within”.
Prime minister Narendra Modi set the tone with a keynote that framed India’s resurgence as a reclaiming of lost potential built over generations. “In previous industrial revolutions, India and the Global South were merely followers,” he said. “But in the era of Artificial Intelligence, India is a partner in decisions and shaping them.” He highlighted the country’s thriving AI startup ecosystem and the recent AI Impact Summit attended by over 100 nations.
Union minister Piyush Goyal (Commerce & Industry) stressed India’s readiness to scale exports and deepen manufacturing, while Ashwini Vaishnaw (Railways, I&B, Electronics & IT) positioned technology and infrastructure as twin engines of growth, especially in AI and digital trust. Jyotiraditya Scindia (Communications & North East Development) revealed India’s ambition to lead in 6G through the Bharat 6G Alliance and partnerships with over 30 countries.
Global voices added depth: former Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo called India’s development “self-sustaining” and strategically vital; ex-UK Chief of Defence Staff General Sir Nick Carter asserted India deserves a seat at the great powers’ table; and former US Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez joined ambassadors from Norway, Germany and Sweden in discussions on geopolitical realignment, sustainability and defence preparedness.
Other speakers included veteran investor Ramesh Damani, World Gold Council CEO David Tait, Vianai Systems founder Dr Vishal Sikka, DeepTech Bharat Foundation co-founder Shashi Shekhar Vempati, defence experts Rajesh Kumar Singh, Sunil Ambekar, Patrick McGee, Tom Cooper and Adrian Fontanellaz, plus cultural and sporting icons Kangana Ranaut, Saina Nehwal, PR Sreejesh, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mithali Raj, Anil Kapoor and Yami Gautam.
The summit was supported by Jio Financial Services (Presenting Partner), Phonepe and DS Group (Co-Presenting Partners), Pernod Ricard India and Kia Seltos (Powered By & Driven By), state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand (State Partners), and associate partners including NSE, M3M Foundation and Reliance Industries.
Broadcast live across News18 Network, CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz, the event reinforced India’s image as a confident democracy and emerging global power proving that when strength comes from within, the world can’t help but watch.
