Story of Prasar Bharati

Prasar Bharati is India's largest public broadcasting agency. It is an autonomous body set up by an Act of Parliament and comprises Doordarshan Television Network and All India Radio, which were earlier media units of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The Parliament of India passed the Prasar Bharati Act to grant this autonomy in 1990, but it was not enacted until 15 September 1997. Shashi Sekhar Vembati is the current chairperson of Prasar Bharati.

Shashi Sekhar Vembhati

The Prasar Bharati Act stipulates general superintendence, direction and management of affairs of the Corporation vests in Prasar Bharati Board which may exercise all such powers and do all such acts and things as may be exercised or done by the Corporation.

Prasar Bharati Board consists of:

· Chairman

· One Executive Member

· One Member (Finance)

· One Member (Personnel)

· Six Part-time Members

· Director-General (Akashvani), ex officio

· Director-General (Doordarshan), ex officio

· One representative of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), to be nominated by that Ministry and

· Two representatives of the employees of the Corporation, of whom one shall be elected by the engineering staff from amongst themselves and one shall be elected by the other employee from amongst themselves.

The President of India appoints Chairman and the other Members, except the ex officio members, nominated member and the elected members.

Prasar Bharati Act

The Prasar Bharati Act provides for establishment of a Broadcasting Corporation, to be known as Prasar Bharati, to define its composition, functions and powers. The Act grants autonomy to All India Radio and Doordarshan, which were previously under government control. The Act received assent of President of India on 12 September 1990 after being unanimously passed by Parliament. It was finally implemented in November 1997. By the Prasar Bharati Act, all property, assets, debts, liabilities, payments of money due, all suits and legal proceedings involving Akashvani (All India Radio) and Doordarshan were transferred to Prasar Bharati.

Why was there a need for Broadcasting Autonomy?

For over three decades beginning with Chanda committee report in 1966 and continuing through the reports of the Verghese Committee (Akash Bharti) in 1978 and the Joshi Committee in 1985, recommendations for broadcasting reforms were put forth. This need for autonomy was deeply felt soon after the emergeny period. As a result, the Prasar Bharati Act (1990) was formed by the government. It was the first instance of a government voluntarily bringing legislation to free the media from its control which may set in motion a chain of events in the country bringing in revolutionary changes in the field. Apart from safeguarding the citizen’s right to be informed freely, truthfully and objectively, Prasar Bharati was also required to pay attention to special fields such as education, agriculture, development, women empowerment etc.

Objectives of Prasar Bharati Corporation

The major objectives of the Prasar Bharati Corporation as laid out in the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990 are as follows:

· Upholding the unity and integrity of the country and the values enshrined in the Constitution.

· Safeguarding the citizen’s right to be informed freely, truthfully and objectively on all matters of public interest, national or international, and presenting a fair and balanced flow of information including contrasting views without advocating any opinion or ideology of its own.

· Paying special attention to the fields of education and spread of literacy, agriculture, rural development, environment, health and family welfare and science and technology.

· Providing adequate coverage to the diverse cultures and languages of the various regions of the country by broadcasting appropriate programmes.

· Providing adequate coverage to sports and games so as to encourage healthy competition and the spirit of sportsmanship.

· Providing appropriate programmes keeping in view the special needs of the youth.

· Informing and stimulating the national consciousness in regard to the status and problems of women and paying special attention to the upliftment of women.

· Promoting social justice and combating exploitation, inequality and such evils as untouchability and advancing the welfare of the weaker sections of the society.

· Safeguarding the rights of the working classes and advancing their welfare.

· Serving the rural and weaker sections of the people and those residing in border regions, backward or remote areas.

· Providing suitable programmes keeping in view the special needs of the minorities and tribal communities.

· Taking special steps to protect the interests of children, the blind, the aged, the handicapped and other vulnerable sections of the people.

· Promoting national integration by broadcasting in a manner that facilitates communication in the languages in India; and facilitating the distribution of regional broadcasting services in every State in the languages of that State.

· Providing comprehensive broadcast coverage through the choice of appropriate technology and the best utilisation of the broadcast frequencies available and ensuring high quality reception.

· Promoting research and development activities in order to ensure that radio broadcast and television broadcast technology are constantly updated.

Chanda Committee 1964

Chanda committee was formed in 1964, when Indira Gandhi was the I&B minister under the chairmanship of A.K. Chanda. The report was submitted in 1967. Their recommendations included separation of TV and radio units, which resulted in the separation of AIR and Doordarshan. It also recommended that programs related to national interest must be broadcasted on priority basis. 

The Janta Government had appointed a Working Group on the autonomy of the Akashwani and Doordarshan in August 1977. The chairman of this committee was B.G. Verghese. The committee submitted its report on February 24, 1978. This committee’s main recommendation was “formation of Akash Bharti or the “National Broadcasting Trust”, both for the AIR and Doordarshan. The committee noted that the people want an independent corporation because, the executive, abetted by a captive parliament, shamelessly misused the Broadcasting during emergency and this must be prevented for all times. 

This was a bold recommendation of this committee, which wanted substantial “Constitutional Safeguards” for the recommended body. But these recommendations were not even supported by Janta rulers. 

The minister (LK Advani) commented: “The committee has recommended the creation of an independent, constitutional entity, parallel to the Judiciary on which the legislature has no control. No we can not accept it”. 

The result was that the report was rejected. 

PC Joshi Committee 1982

Congress appointed PC Joshi Committee in 1982, whose main term of reference was to prepare a software plan for Doordarshan. But this group also emphasized on the absence of “Functional Freedom” in Prasar Bharati. This committee said that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting should be reorganized and a separate board on the lines of Railway Board should be created, in which only people with professional experience should get entry. 

So, slowly a consensus developed for a Television Authority of India -as a public trust and under the control of the parliament and officed with only experienced professionals. 

Sam Pitroda Committee 2014

The Prasar Bharati Expert Committee, headed by technocrat Sam Pitroda, submitted its report to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Its main recommendations involved a need for greater autonomy. There were 11 expert groups under this committee:

1. Expert group on Prasar Bharati- Government Relationship

2. Expert group on technology

3. Expert group on Business development

4. Expert group on Finance

5. Expert group on HR and organisation

6. Expert group on programming and content

7. Expert group on Archiving

8. Expert group on Global Initiatives

9. Expert group on presence on social and new emerging media

10.Expert group on Regulatory mechanism

11.Expert group on a comparative analysis of public service broadcasters 

The expert group working for developing a viable model for public service broadcasting in the Indian context included Prof. Vartika Nanda, Head of Department of Journalism, LSR among notable members.

Recommendations:

• Amend the Prasar Bharati Act 1990 to give effective freedom to the Prasar Bharati with administrative and financial powers

• To give power to Prasar Bharati to frame rules and regulations and hire manpower without going to the government for approval. In other words, Prasar Bharati’s vision must be to become a “genuine public broadcaster” rather than a “government broadcaster”

• The public broadcaster should monetize all available assets to enhance funding.

• Make Direct-To-Home (DTH) signals the primary mode of transmitting content for Doordarshan.

• To set up Prasar Bharati Connect (PBC), as the third arm of PSB, apart from Doordarshan and AIR.

• Creation of dedicated, multi- platform channels for dissemination of Prasar Bharati archival products.

PRASAR BHARATI OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://prasarbharati.gov.in/default.aspx

-Compiled by Nimisha Bansal