Is Prasar Bharati its master’s voice?
By Jawhar Sircar
(Published in “The Hindu” on 25th August,2017)
While episodic outbursts when the
public broadcaster commits some sin of omission or commission are natural, they
usually peter away after some self-righteous indignation. Such transient
interest can hardly achieve anything beyond a few column centimetres, as we
need to look at what heavy chains bind Prasar Bharati before calling it a
poodle.
On a leash
In 1990, V.P. Singh’s government
passed a landmark Act to delink the two state monopolies, All India Radio and
Doordarshan, from the government that earlier Congress regimes had used to the
hilt. A new autonomous corporate holding, namely Prasar Bharati, was desired,
but the bureaucrats of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry ensured,
through two sections, 32 and 33, that effective control remained with them. In
any case, the Act was put into cold storage throughout P.V. Narasimha Rao’s
tenure and it was only on the Supreme Court’s order that it was taken out in
1997, dusted and operationalised.
After bundling off the first CEO
who took ‘autonomy’ too seriously within a few months, the Ministry ensured for
several years that its own Additional Secretaries doubled up as CEOs of Prasar
Bharati. Though some were outstanding, they were vulnerable and the Ministry
clamped ‘dominion’ status through total funding control. Some 48,000 employees
recruited by the Ministry in the Soviet days were unceremoniously passed on to
Prasar Bharati, weighing it down with unmanageable numbers and hardwired
sarkari mindsets. Under law, their pay has necessarily to be borne by government
but it invariably makes a hue and cry about Prasar Bharati bleeding it.
When the Prasar Bharati Board
(one must compliment the present and previous one) demanded justice and
autonomy, they were laughed away. There were, and still are, several excellent
professionals in DD and AIR, but governmental systems demoralise and punish
initiative. Almost every minister has enjoyed these hegemonic powers as
secretaries could never exercise these without acquiescence or encouragement.
Colossal wastage
Some 10-12 years ago, a couple of
ministers pumped money into DD for making its own serials, replacing the
earlier successful model of Ramayan, Mahabharat and Buniyaad, and the result
was pathetic. All they did was to enrich the private producers and damage DD’s TRPs
beyond repair but, despite best efforts, that model has not been replaced even
now. Over the decades, countless radio and TV stations were set up and even
when it was known that less than 2% of India watches terrestrial transmission
through rooftop rod antennas, not a single of the 1,400-plus towers could be
shut down. These, and short wave radio transmitters, guzzle power, money and
bind down a lot of manpower. So do the 45 TV studios whose 100-odd staff
produce just half an hour’s programme per day. But then, who bells the cat that
appoints everyone, including the board members? Section 17 transferred all
assets and properties from the Ministry to Prasar Bharati, but in 20 years, the
rules of transfer could not be made.
Every time the organisation hires
‘updated professionals’ from the open market to try to make old elephants run a
bit like racehorses, ‘insiders’ are egged on to complain and inquiries
instituted. Parliamentary committee recommendations enjoining autonomy and the
Pitroda Committee report are all stuffed into lockers, while control is
exercised daily through adroit divide and rule at the top. Until the
organisation is forcefully decoupled from its massive sloth and totally
detoxified, there is no option but to keep singing the master’s anthem.
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