Centre rules out regularising Prasar Bharati casual assignees

MUMBAI: For Prasar Bharati’s casual workforce, the wait for a permanent place on the payroll is staying on hold. The Centre has said there is currently no proposal to regularise casual assignees or extend them social security benefits, despite some having worked with the public broadcaster for years.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L. Murugan said there was no proposal under consideration for the regularisation, contractual absorption or remuneration revision of casual assignees, or for extending them social security benefits.

The clarification came in response to a question from Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, who sought details on casual personnel engaged by All India Radio and Prasar Bharati. The categories include casual announcers, casual news readers-cum-translators, casual comperes, casual broadcast assistants and other assignment-based workers.

Murugan said Prasar Bharati engages these workers purely on an assignment basis to meet programme requirements and in accordance with prescribed guidelines. Such engagements are not made against sanctioned posts and do not provide any right to regular appointment, he said.

The government also stressed that casual assignments do not create an employer-employee relationship between Prasar Bharati and the workers. As a result, casual assignees are not entitled to the service benefits available to regular employees.

The response also highlighted a data gap around the size and longevity of this workforce. Prasar Bharati does not maintain fixed data on the number of casual assignees or their engagement periods, including those who may have worked for more than five, 10, 15 or even 20 years.

Despite their assignment-based status, casual assignees are free to take up other employment, according to the government. Their fee structure, meanwhile, is reviewed from time to time.

On grievances raised by the workforce, Murugan said representations received by Prasar Bharati are examined on their merits, taking into account existing policy guidelines, judicial pronouncements and administrative instructions.

The ministry added that operational requirements and related policies are reviewed periodically to ensure transparency and uniform implementation of the prescribed guidelines. For now, however, the Centre’s position remains clear: there is no proposal on the table to convert Prasar Bharati’s casual workforce into regular employees or extend them social security benefits.