10-15-2009, 03:09 AM
<b>Govt to strip Prasar Bharti Board of its powers</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The government appears set to strip the existing Prasar Bharati Board of its powers, the apex body formed 17 years ago to provide autonomy to the state-run All India Radio and Doordarshan, now mired in corruption and controversies.
<b>The Law ministry has given a go ahead to Information and Broadcasting ministry to take legal recourse to suspend the existing board and put in place a government official in-charge of the board, HT has learnt. </b>
Earlier, also the government had appointed Additional Secretary in the ministry as Chief Executive Officer of the Prasar Bharati during the period new CEOs were being selected.
However, senior I&B ministry officials said the decision on whether an Ordinance or a amendment to the Prasar Bharati Act to dissolve the present board would be taken after October 25, when the global broadcasting union is supposed to clear the plan for Commonwealth Games coverage.
<b>The governmentâs worry is whether the present Prasar Bharti board would be able to provide world class coverage of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, given its sorry plight is understood to have triggered the drastic move.
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The Board, which gets around Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) every year from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, has been virtually defunct since eight months, plagued by severe infighting among its top officials.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Congress is back to its Fascism, very good excuse to grab power.
They think dumb Babu can fix problem and they are not corrupt. Now it will be gestapo headquarter.
<b>The Law ministry has given a go ahead to Information and Broadcasting ministry to take legal recourse to suspend the existing board and put in place a government official in-charge of the board, HT has learnt. </b>
Earlier, also the government had appointed Additional Secretary in the ministry as Chief Executive Officer of the Prasar Bharati during the period new CEOs were being selected.
However, senior I&B ministry officials said the decision on whether an Ordinance or a amendment to the Prasar Bharati Act to dissolve the present board would be taken after October 25, when the global broadcasting union is supposed to clear the plan for Commonwealth Games coverage.
<b>The governmentâs worry is whether the present Prasar Bharti board would be able to provide world class coverage of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, given its sorry plight is understood to have triggered the drastic move.
</b>
The Board, which gets around Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) every year from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, has been virtually defunct since eight months, plagued by severe infighting among its top officials.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Congress is back to its Fascism, very good excuse to grab power.
They think dumb Babu can fix problem and they are not corrupt. Now it will be gestapo headquarter.