CBFC role to certify films; prohibition not I&B min policy:

Stating that the role of the censor board was to certify films, Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley has underlined that it is not the policy of his ministry to prohibit this or that.
Jaitley's comments, made in an interview with Doordarshan, come in the wake of a row over a list of cuss words drawn up for banning by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). It had later decided not to go ahead with the move.
"I&B ministry is a regulating ministry. It should not interfere too much. Film industry is an independent industry, we only work for certification. I should make it clear, stopping this or that is not is not my policy.

"It has been told to the officials concerned that you are a certifying agency and if you feel some scene cannot be certified, cancel it. The person concerned can go into an appeal," Jaitley said, adding that he feels prohibition cannot work in this day and age.
He said that there are various radio and TV channels and it is for the viewers and listeners to decide about the content as far as it conforms to the rules.
The censor board is a statutory body under the I&B ministry.
Speaking about Prasar Bharati, Jaitley said it is not a government but a public broadcaster and cannot compete with private channels in running a campaign against a sadhu-sanyasi or a covering a controversy over cinema, cricket or some other issue. Neither can it run the same news the whole day.

Prasar Bharati is like BBC, where 30-40 objective news items can be viewed, he said while noting its role in educating the public and other initiatives like bringing out a channel for farmers.