Prasar Bharati inks MoU with I and B Ministry, gets Rs 365 crore

Prasar Bharati, which runs Doordarshan and All India Radio, will have to use its own funds to pay salaries of employees recruited after October 2007, and also clear pending liabilities amounting to Rs 1,800 crore for the use of radio waves and satellites to broadcast its services, according to an MoU it signed with the I&B Ministry last week.

The ministry released Rs 365 crore to Prasar Bharati after it signed the MoU following months of standoff between the two sides on various contentious issues.

According to the provisions of the MoU, Prasar Bharati will have to incur expenses on payment of salaries to its employees recruited after October 2007 and also pay pending liabilities on account of spectrum and space fees to the departments of telecommunication and space.

A copy of the MoU is with PTI.

The two new clauses are likely to hit the financial condition of Prasar Bharati which was reportedly reluctant to signed the MoU.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry releases an amount of around Rs 200 crore to Prasar Bharati every month and a major share of it goes to payment of salaries of the public broadcaster.

It is not immediately known how many employees were recruited by Prasar Bharati after 2007 and what their monthly wage bill is.

The MoU also has a contentious clause which says that "Prasar Bharati shall endeavour to augment its productivity and efficiency in its operations and pay its dues to government department/organisations including space segment and spectrum charges to the department of space and department of telecommunications."