​By Ranjona Banerji
The ongoing battle between Prasar Bharati, the national broadcaster, and the Ministry for Information and Broadcasting, makes clear the dangers of news and broadcast media tied to the government’s apron strings. The whole intention in fact of setting up Prasar Bharati was to make it independent of government control; that the days when Doordarshan and All India Radio were government mouthpieces were now over.
Yet, what we have seen in the last few weeks is the insidious hand of Big Government asserting itself where it hurts the most – in editorial appointments and then, which is unacceptable and shocking,  in withholding salaries as payback for “disobedience†as it were.
A search committee set up by Prasar Bharati shortlisted two journalists, Siddharth Zarabi and Abhijit Majumder, for, respectively, head of Doordarshan News and head of Prasar Bharati’s news service including its digital platforms. Although a Prasar Bharat committee shortlisted Zarabi and Majumder, their names were apparently pushed through by I&B minister Smriti Irani.
The PB Board rejected both names, claiming that the salaries were exorbitant – apparently about Rs one crore per annum for Zarabi and Rs 75 lakh for Majumder. The Board also pushed back against the ministry for attempting to include an IAS officer on to the PB Board as Member (Personnel). To make matters worse, as far as the ministry was concerned, PB also refused to follow ministry directives to pay Rs 3 crore to a private company for footage of the recent International Film Festival of India, held in Goa. DD had always covered IFFI, until Irani took over in 2017 and gave the contract to the Mumbai company SOL Productions, via NFDC.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/prasar-bharati-pushes-back-as-it-blocks-ib-proposals-on-hiring-5065835/
The fallout was for Prasar Bharati’s stand for independence immediate. Although PB is autonomous, it is attached to the I&B ministry and the ministry held back salaries for the months of January and February. Salaries had to paid from a contingency fund.
https://thewire.in/228862/angered-prasar-bharatis-defiance-smriti-irani-blocks-salary-funds-dd-air/?utm_source=twpage
This is nothing but a direct attack on Prasar Bharati based on the whims and fancies of a minister. It is also arbitrary decision-making based on personal vendetta rather than any professional reasoning.
The explanation from the minister, after news of the withholding of salaries broke, is telling. Plundering the dictionary, the ministry calls reports on this battle for power “deliberate, sinister, motivated†and goes on to call them “defamatoryâ€. Yet, it in fact clarifies the reports with garbled gobbledygook on the need for “fiscal prudence and accountabilityâ€.
https://thewire.in/229206/irani-confirms-salary-funds-block-prasar-bharati-chief-wants-parliament-intervene/
That Government should try and control the media is not new; it is a mainstay of the authoritarian state that so many politicians love. As we have seen, many private media companies are quite happy to be government spokespersons. But the idea that Prasar Bharati, now 20 years old, should stand for itself, is commendable and has worked to some extent. Several of its news programmes and documentaries are in-depth and if not shiny and slick like private news channels, they are certainly richer on content. The reach of DD and AIR is also enormous, which makes them extremely significant. DD is trumped by Rajya Sabha TV and Lok Sabha TV which often beat private media hollow for their content and their stand on Constitutional and political matters.
There is a battle going on in other countries about national broadcasters and licence fees which the citizens have to pay. Yet perhaps there is a case for the licence fee model, which makes the broadcaster answerable to the people rather than dependent on the government. This obviously includes vindictive and over-controlling ministers.
The events of the last few weeks make it clear that we need a wider discussion on Prasar Bharati. And hold the current dispensation to account on its claims of “Minimum Government and Maximum Governanceâ€.
​Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She is also Consulting Editor, MxMIndia. The views here are her own.​