BS People: Tripurari Sharan

Scripting a revival at Doordarshan

Doordarshan found a new chief in Tripurari Sharan late last month after the unceremonious exit of Aruna Sharma, who is said to have been involved in the Commonwealth Games fiasco. Sharan, a 1985 batch IAS officer from the Bihar cadre has been appointed as the director general of the television wing of the public sector broadcaster Prasar Bharati for a period of three years.

With a spate of alleged financial irregularities coming to light in awarding contracts for telecast of the recently held Commonwealth Games, Sharan will have to put the books at Doordarshan in order. Prior to this, Sharan - an alumnus of St Stephen’s College - was principal secretary, food and civil supplies in the Bihar government.

He also held the additional charge of the Bihar State Film Development Corporation. In his new stint Sharan would have to work towards resolving issues with around 40,000 employees of Prasar Bharati who have been agitating for the repeal of the Prasar Bharati Act for some time . Another big challenge would be to try and bring back viewership lost to private channels over the years.

Sharan, in his five year tenure as the director of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), had virtually revived the dying institute, so this task may not be too difficult. As head of FTII in 2003, he restarted the acting course, reopened the acting studio that was closed for over three decades, and introduced new courses. He also made two feature films showing that he’s not afraid to lead from the front.