News channels approach Govt over security clearance

News broadcasters have asked the government to reconsider its decision under which the security clearance for channels is valid for only three years, Union Minister Manish Tewari today said.
Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, the Information and Broadcasting minister Manish Tewari said it had received a representation from News Broadcasters Association (NBA) in November to reconsider the decision as per which the security clearance given to a company and its directors is valid only for three years.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had also said that if a company which has been given security clearance applies for a new channel, fresh clearance would be needed.

Tewari said the broadcasters had mentioned that this limiting of validity of security clearance by MHA to three years imposes unnecessary hardships on them.
They also pointed out that this had created an anomalous situation as permissions for uplinking and downlinking channels are issued for a period of ten years.
Broadcasters said that this step would slow down the business of broadcasters.
In response to another question, Tewari said that the Press Council of India has registered 532 complaints on charges of baseless and provocative news reports published in print media since April 1, 2012.