It’s hard to believe Prasar Bharati was intended as India’s BBC. The aim was to create an institution owned by the state (that is, the people) but autonomous of the government. It would be accountable to Parliament but its credibility would be determined by public opinion. What we have today is in every respect almost the opposite. To still compare it to the BBC can only be a cruel joke.
Which is why the recent differences between the Prasar Bharati Chairman and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is such good news. An institution that has been dormant and willingly trampled upon is attempting to assert itself and fight back.
I’ll come to the specific issues that have caused the problem in a moment’s time but, first, consider the tone and tenor of the Prasar Bharati Chairman’s angry comments. And remember he was appointed by this government. He is not a survivor from the days of its predecessor. In his own words, he sees himself “as a friend” of this administration both ideologically and because of their “shared political experiences”.
“The bureaucrats in the Ministry have passed several orders which indicate that they have utter contempt for the Prasar Bharati Act. In fact, they behave as if the Act does not exist at all,” Surya Prakash told The Hindu. “I regard such orders as gross contempt of the Act and of Parliament itself.”
He has expressed similar outrage to the Indian Express. Speaking about attempts by the ministry to control the functioning of Prasar Bharati he said “any attempt on the part of the ministry to exercise such control and supervision is not only in direct conflict with the letter and spirit of the Act but also strikes at its very root.”
Perhaps the most serious cause of the problem is the ministry’s order requiring the Prasar Bharati CEO’s appraisal be done by the I&B secretary and reviewed by the Minister. Surya Prakash calls this “absolutely and patently illegal”. It flouts Section 6 (vii) of the Act which stipulates that the CEO is an employee of the corporation and not the ministry.
However, the corporation’s differences and discord with the ministry have several more causes. Last month, the ministry directed Prasar Bharati to terminate all contractual employees. This was a blatant attempt to undermine its autonomy to hire its own staff. It wanted a serving IAS officer appointed as a full time member of the corporation’s board, ignoring the fact such people should be employees of Prasar Bharati and selected by a committee chaired by the vice-president. It wants officers of the information service, which comes under the ministry, to work with Doordarshan and AIR news divisions. It wants ~29.2 million paid to a Mumbai-based private firm for services that could easily have been performed by Prasar Bharati itself. It’s even holding back release of money allocated by the Finance Ministry, presumably to force acceptance of its orders. As a result, salaries of many Prasar Bharati employees are being paid out of contingency funds.
We, therefore, have a clear rift between Prasar Bharati and the Modi government. Surya Prakash may only talk about “bureaucrats” but they would not act without the full support of Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani and, in turn, she must have the approval of the Prime Minister. To think it could be otherwise is not just to fool oneself but also ignore this government’s determination to manage the news and control public broadcasting.
So if Surya Prakash’s outrage is spilling out in interviews it’s more than a sign of the corporation fighting back. It’s also the first glimmer of hope that Prasar Bharati could become the public broadcaster it was meant to be.
Of course, there’s a long way to go before that happens and the prospects of success are not just remote but bleak. Yet this is a moment for liberal voices to speak out in support of the corporation’s chairman. This is a fight we must all join. The chances of success may be small but we haven’t had a similar opportunity before and who knows when it will come again. In our own interest we can’t afford to forego this moment.
Which is why the recent differences between the Prasar Bharati Chairman and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is such good news. An institution that has been dormant and willingly trampled upon is attempting to assert itself and fight back.
I’ll come to the specific issues that have caused the problem in a moment’s time but, first, consider the tone and tenor of the Prasar Bharati Chairman’s angry comments. And remember he was appointed by this government. He is not a survivor from the days of its predecessor. In his own words, he sees himself “as a friend” of this administration both ideologically and because of their “shared political experiences”.
“The bureaucrats in the Ministry have passed several orders which indicate that they have utter contempt for the Prasar Bharati Act. In fact, they behave as if the Act does not exist at all,” Surya Prakash told The Hindu. “I regard such orders as gross contempt of the Act and of Parliament itself.”
He has expressed similar outrage to the Indian Express. Speaking about attempts by the ministry to control the functioning of Prasar Bharati he said “any attempt on the part of the ministry to exercise such control and supervision is not only in direct conflict with the letter and spirit of the Act but also strikes at its very root.”
Perhaps the most serious cause of the problem is the ministry’s order requiring the Prasar Bharati CEO’s appraisal be done by the I&B secretary and reviewed by the Minister. Surya Prakash calls this “absolutely and patently illegal”. It flouts Section 6 (vii) of the Act which stipulates that the CEO is an employee of the corporation and not the ministry.
However, the corporation’s differences and discord with the ministry have several more causes. Last month, the ministry directed Prasar Bharati to terminate all contractual employees. This was a blatant attempt to undermine its autonomy to hire its own staff. It wanted a serving IAS officer appointed as a full time member of the corporation’s board, ignoring the fact such people should be employees of Prasar Bharati and selected by a committee chaired by the vice-president. It wants officers of the information service, which comes under the ministry, to work with Doordarshan and AIR news divisions. It wants ~29.2 million paid to a Mumbai-based private firm for services that could easily have been performed by Prasar Bharati itself. It’s even holding back release of money allocated by the Finance Ministry, presumably to force acceptance of its orders. As a result, salaries of many Prasar Bharati employees are being paid out of contingency funds.
We, therefore, have a clear rift between Prasar Bharati and the Modi government. Surya Prakash may only talk about “bureaucrats” but they would not act without the full support of Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani and, in turn, she must have the approval of the Prime Minister. To think it could be otherwise is not just to fool oneself but also ignore this government’s determination to manage the news and control public broadcasting.
So if Surya Prakash’s outrage is spilling out in interviews it’s more than a sign of the corporation fighting back. It’s also the first glimmer of hope that Prasar Bharati could become the public broadcaster it was meant to be.
Of course, there’s a long way to go before that happens and the prospects of success are not just remote but bleak. Yet this is a moment for liberal voices to speak out in support of the corporation’s chairman. This is a fight we must all join. The chances of success may be small but we haven’t had a similar opportunity before and who knows when it will come again. In our own interest we can’t afford to forego this moment.
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