Caught on the back foot for the second time in just over a month, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry is under pressure to take a fresh look at the appointment of Veena Jain as Director-General of Doordarshan News.
The change of tack follows a meeting between Surya Prakash, Chairman of the Prasar Bharati Corporation, and Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley.
It is learnt that Mr. Prakash flagged the issue of autonomy of the corporation as the Ministry appointed Ms. Jain without consulting the Prasar Bharati Board.
Board officials have been particularly irked by the wording of the order that said Ms. Jain would report to the Ministry for all purposes, leading to apprehension of a government takeover of the autonomous corporation.
Following a furore over its missive to community radio stations on April 30 asking them to mail their content for scrutiny daily, the Ministry had to issue a clarification the next day.
Mr. Prakash, and Chief Executive Officer Jawhar Sircar have taken up the matter. While Mr. Sircar has, as media reports suggested, shot off a letter to the Chairman complaining about the Ministry’s increasing encroachment on an autonomous body, Mr. Prakash met the Minister to persuade the Ministry to change its order.
What had irked Mr. Prakash was that the order was not marked to the Prasar Bharati Board, which, officials in the corporation say, has violated the spirit of the Prasar Bharati Act. The Act states that appointment of the members of the corporation, including directors-general of All India Radio and DD, will be done by the corporation after consulting the recruitment Board.
Since taking over last Friday, Ms. Jain, it is learnt from DD newsroom sources, had not chaired the prime-time edit meetings.
It is also learnt that following Mr. Prakash’s intervention, the Ministry has been directed to issue a fresh order soon. This time, the Board will be informed of it.
