Par panel asks govt to expedite setting up of Content

Observing that Government thrust is shifting towards FM, a Parliamentary panel has asked the government to expedite the setting up of a content monitoring facility for radio under its Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC).
In its 23rd report which was tabled in the Parliament today, the Standing Committee on Information Technology observed that the Government thrust is shifting towards FM.
As the number of FM channels in the country is increasing it is being felt that the monitoring of FM channels and Community radio stations should also be brought under the purview of EMMC within a definite time frame, the panel said in its report.

It recommended that the I&B ministry in addition of covering 1500 TV channels should also make efforts to expedite the content acquisition facility for FM and CRS.
The committee said that on the issue of setting up of Centralised Content Monitoring Facility for private FM and community radio stations a tender had been floated.
This tender, which was floated by Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd (BECIL) could not get any valid response for establishing an IT based radio monitoring system, it said.
The committee in its report said that the tender was reissued in 2014-15 but only one tenderer responded and accordingly BECIL is now proposing to float another tender.