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Lok Sabha passes bill to revive 1990 Prasar Bharati Act

The Lok Sabha on Friday evening passed the Bill aimed at reviving the Prasar Bharati Act as passed in 1990 and nullifying the effect of the Ordinance promulgated late last year by the United Front government.

The Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Amendment Bill will bring back to the statute book the proposal for a 22-member committee of members of Parliament to oversee the working of the corporation and also the Broadcasting Council which can hear complaints about its working.

In her strongly-worded reply, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj said her aim in reviving the 1990 Act was to bring in autonomy with accountability.

She also announced that she planned to bring forward a modified Broadcasting Bill in the next session of Parliament.

She said the Prasar Bharati Act will be suitably amended after a Broadcasting Regulatory Authority of India is set up under the Broadcasting Bill.

One immediate effect of the Bill after it is passed by both Houses of Parliament will be the revival of the clause for fixing the upper age limit for the member (executive) of the Prasar Bharati Board at 62.

This will mean the exit of present Chief Executive Officer S S Gill who had come in following a change in the upper age limit through an Ordinance promulgated last year by the United Front government.

The Prasar Bharati Act, introduced in the Rajya Sabha by then I&B minister P Upendra was passed in mid-1990 after a national debate. It received Presidential assent on September 12 the same year, but was notified seven years later with effect from September 15.

The legislation was amended on October 30 through an Ordinance aimed at bringing in greater autonomy, and was re-promulgated on December 31 after Parliament was dissolved. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government allowed the Ordinance to lapse on May 6.

According to Swaraj, ''It was a conscious decision to allow the Ordinance to lapse, since the Ordinance had removed or modified several important provisions of the Act'' which ''is considered detrimental to the proper functions of Prasar Bharati as originally envisaged.''

The statement of objects and reasons apended to the Bill states that the Bill ''shall resolve the uncertainty and vacuum created by the lapse of the Ordinance and shall restore to the Prasar Bharati and its operations the accountability and balance which were envisaged in the original Act.''

The statement says the amendment to the Bill was necessitated because ''a doubt was expressed whether all provisions of the original Act would automatically revive or parliamentary legislation would be required for that purpose.

The government has been advised that specific legislative measures are required to bring into existence the same state of affairs which existed before the promulgation of the Ordinance.

The Bill has two new provisos providing for the resignation of the present chief executive officer and part-time members when the legislation gets Presidential assent.

Other effects of the amendment will be revival of the Broadcasting Council to receive and consider complaints, the member (personnel) and member (finance) being restored the status of being wholetime for six years instead of ex-officio, and the government gets back its powers to constitute recruitment boards.

The proposal for a 22-member parliamentary committee, which is provided for in section 13(1) of the Act, was brought in following an amendment moved by the Congress during the discussion on the bill in may 1990, which had been opposed by the BJP as it was felt that it would curb autonomy.

Janata Dal member and former I&B minister Jaipal Reddy had removed the provision for the committee to restore greater autonomy and because of the presence of the standing committee of MPs (which were brought into being in 1991).

Although passed in May 1990, the Prasar Bharati Act had not been notified on the ground that the entry of the satellite television channels and other developments had brought about changes in the situation and the Act would have to be amended in this light.

Later, the matter assumed urgency when the Supreme Court on February 9, 1995 in a case relating to the Cricket Association of Bengal ruled that airwaves were public property and an authority should be set up to regulate them. The government then announced that it would bring about a comprehensive legislation on broadcasting and would amend the Prasar Bharati Act accordingly. The Broadcasting Bill was ultimately introduced in Parliament late last year but given to a joint select committee of MPs, and lapsed with the dissolution of Parliament.

UNI