No differences with ministry, says Prasar Bharti chief

Prasar Bharati chief Jawhar Sircar Tuesday denied any rift with the information and broadcasting ministry, and termed the leakage of his letter to the ministry as "unfortunate".

"Within a family there are differences... It has been exaggerated... the minister is a constitutional authority," Sircar told IANS on the sidelines of an event here.

"I have some issues, some difficulties. It is a working relation problem. They (letter contents) have been twisted. It is not correct," he added.

In his letter, Sircar had reportedly questioned the ministry's interference in the affairs of the public service broadcaster -- a statutory autonomous body -- and also the ministry questioning the move to revamp four Hindi channels of Doordarshan -- Lucknow, Jaipur, Patna and Bhopal.

He had also mentioned issues relating to the Prasar Bharti recruitment board, attrition in cadre and foreign tours by officials, said sources.

Sircar said he had some "working problems" with the ministry. He said he had given the letter to 20 members of the Prasar Bharti board and "it should not have come out".

"It is unfortunate", he added, adding that "this keeps happening in a family".