I&B Ministry
Regulatory body for electronic media mooted
MUMBAI: Press Council of India (PCI) chairman K Jayachandra Reddy has said that the Council has suggested to the Central Government it constitute a regulatory authority for the electronic media, on the lines of the PCI, to function as a watchdog panel.
The Hindu Businessline quoted Reddy as saying at a press conference in Hyderabad yesterday that it was not fair to leave the electronic media unregulated while subjecting the print media alone to all kinds of regulations. Reddy, however, expressed reservations over the regulatory authority on the electronic media taking shape in the near future.
Reddy’s comments are likely to lead to the resurfacing of the debate that was raised in June last year on whether the print and the electronic media should have a combined regulatory body – a media council. It is an idea that has been on and off for a long while now.
The media council idea has been strongly resisted by broadcasters through their representative body the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF).
Of course such a body would come in as a given if the proposed Communications Convergence Bill. The bill envisages a super-regulator, the Communication Commission of India (CCI), which would be created after is passed and monitor the content being beamed by the channels.
In the absence of such a commission, broadcasters favour a self regulator. “The broadcasting industry has been unregulated ever since its inception. And there has been no major problems relating to security or objectionable content. Hence, there is no need for an outside council to regulate content now,” has been the stated stand of the IBF. The IBF also fears that since the number of players in the print media is larger than those in the electronic media, any such merged council could be skewed in favour of those representing print media.
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.
