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Jaitley defends Prasar Bharti decisions

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

The Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Arun Jaitley today attacked Jaipal Reddy for criticising the government for setting up a three-member review committee. He also came down heavily on Reddy for saying that so long as the Prasar Bharati board was there, there was no need for a ministry of information and broadcasting.

"I do not agree with the views of Reddy. In fact my views on this issue are opposite to the ones he has. He promulgated an ordinance a few hours before the Gujral government was to resign. This act of his was highly questionable. His present party, the Congress party had dubbed his act as political cronyism. He has to still answer many questions on what he had done then," Jaitley told newmen after inaugurating an exhibition of cartoons by leading cartoonist Ranga.

He said the present government had every right to review the decisions take by earlier governments. "We are committed to review the earlier decisions because we feel that those decisions were not taken in accordance with the laws. If we have retired two of the six members of the board, it is well within the law. Because the provisions of the Prasar Bharati does provide for retiring of one third of its members every two years. Which two members to retire was the question before us and we consulted the attorney general on this matter. We have retained all those who could be of longer utility with the board and retired those who should not have been there in the first place," he said.

When asked if his party planned to bring in some of its own men into the board, Jaitley said that merely because a communist becomes a member of the board does not mean that it has become broad-framed. Or just because a novelist is there on the panel does not give it credibility. "We have to have people who could make Prasar Bharati more viable. Persons of stature who could think how to compete with the other satellite channels. Doordarsahan has massive reach but its earnings are falling. We have to ensure that while looking after the needs of the people and telecasting programmes catering to the needs of its viewers, Doordarshan must also look after its financial needs," he added.

He said that those who questioned the right of the government to restructure Prasar Bharati are forgetting that they are to be blamed because they had constituted the Prasar Bharati Board in a great hurry. What the government of the day is doing is merely trying to correct the basic faults.

He ridiculed those who thought that the board cannot work in a truncated form. "We are trying to make Prasar Bharati a professional body. Give us three months. We have set up a review committee and its is already doing its job. The acting chief executive along with three other members of the board can take care of the day to day functioning of the organisation. The way the appointments were done, I feel that there was a deliberate attempt to politicise Prasar Bharati. We are now making it professional," he explained.

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