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NEW
DELHI: While the government has announced its intention to
amend the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995
to streamline it and bring it in conformity with the changed
technology and situation, it says that implementation will
have to be done by the states.
The
states will, thus, have to keep a check on the fee structure
charged by cable operators, multi-service operators (MSOs)
and direct-to-home (DTH) platforms for relay of TV channels.
Information
and Broadcasting minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said the Law
ministry was being consulted to give a final shape to the
proposed amendment. The states would be consulted in this
regard, he added. The minister was, however, highly appreciative
of the Tamil Nadu government for regulating cable charges
for the poor sections of society.
While
stressing that the Government is not in favour of imposing
any regulatory controls on the print or electronic media,
Dasmunsi told Lok Sabha that the government is in favour of
consultation and has, therefore, drawn up a new Content Code
in pursuance of Delhi High Court orders but placed it on the
ministry’s website to enable stakeholders to react.
"We
are against controlling, regulating or interfering with any
TV news channel as this could not be a solution in a free
country. We will talk to them as we believe that issues should
be resolved through dialogue," Dasmunsi said.
But the government, he said, was aware of the overexposure
of sex, crime and violence by private TV channels and said
it was taking steps to check this diversion. The Ministry
has issued 280 notices and in some cases defaulting channels
were not allowed to telecast their programmes for a fixed
period as part of the punishment.
Reacting to the complaint that most media gave very little
coverage to the proceedings in Parliament, the minister said
a high-level meeting would be convened in the ministry next
week to chalk out a strategy on tackling the issue while not
forcing the media to cover Parliament. Some
irate members had asked the government not to supply newsprint
at concessional rates to newspapers which tended to ignore
the coverage of the country's highest institution, Parliament.
Replying to the debate on the demand for grants relating to
his ministry yesterday, Dasmunsi said a plenary meeting would
be held in Mumbai soon to frame an official policy for checking
the increasing piracy of films and music.
The annual plan for 2008-09 has been fixed at Rs 7 billion
as budgetary support approved by the Planning Commission.
This includes Rs 500 million for the information sector, Rs
670 million for the film sector, Rs 4.84 billion for the broadcasting
sector, and a special allocation of Rs 990 million for Commonwealth
Games 2010 and related programmes.
The minister was highly critical of the TRP (Television Rating
Point) system, saying it was a 'game plan and manipulation'
for procuring higher revenues for TV channels through advertisements,
and not a real assessment at all.
He announced setting up an Urdu Advisory Group, comprising
writers and playwrights of repute, to improve the content
and display of the 24-hour Urdu channel of Doordarshan. This
channel had already attracted a sizeable viewership and was
becoming popular among viewers in Pakistan as well, he added.
The Minister claimed that Doordarshan coverage had been extended
to cover the entire Jammu and Kashmir and North-Eastern states
which were out of purview only two years ago.
Dasmunsi said he would call a meeting of the leaders of Prasar
Bharati employees who are planning an agitation for their
demands, including a pay hike, on 29 April.
The minister said if his proposal for turning DD Sports into
a terrestrial channel is accepted, more people all over the
country would be able to see cricket and other sports events.
But he said this would entail an additional expenditure of
about Rs 12 billion.
Dasmunsi said he would meet Commerce ministry officials next
week to help small newspapers get additional newsprint at
concessional rates.
He said the ministry would keep a watch to ensure that FM
Radio channels were not monopolized by certain business houses.
His ministry has ensured transparency in the bidding process
which saw 1500 applicants.
Earlier cutting across party lines, members underlined the
need for setting up an effective monitoring mechanism to keep
a watch on the content broadcast by private news channels
and called for laying down a code of conduct for them.
Initiating the discussion, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sumitra
Mahajan, who lamented that private news channels had made
light of the 'breaking news concept' by showing trivial stories
as flashes. She said reality shows had become a commercial
farce, as the results were decided by the number through SMS
and not by the judges.
Mahajan also took on Dasmunsi for announcing schemes but not
implementing them and pointed out that out of 101 schemes
announced, 43 had been dropped. "Plans were announced
for upgrading the Children's Film Society and the Pune-based
FTII, but no concrete steps have been taken," she said.
Others who spoke included Congress members Devraj Singh, Krishna
Tirath, and N S V Chitthan, P Karunakaran (CPI-M). Shailendra
Kumar (Samajwadi Party), E G Sugavanam (DMK), Ram Kripal Yadav
(RJD), Tathagata Sathpathy (BJD), Suresh Prabhu and Mohan
Rawle (SS), Ajay Chakraborty (CPI), BJP members Karuna Shukla
and Ramkrishna Kusumaria, Ranjit Ranjan (LJP), Prof S Ramadoss
of the MDMK, and Meena Singh (JD-U).
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