| NEW
DELHI: Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath has come down hard
on NDTV Imagine for permitting Pati Patni Aur Woh and also wondered why
the NCPCR which functions under her Ministry failed to take action earlier.
"Even though
the children's parents are watching what is happening, the makers cannot separate
them from their biological parents," Tirath said. Tirath
said the makers of the show (where celebrity couples take care of other people’s
babies) "cannot exploit and harass the children." Meanwhile,
irked after it received several complaints from non-governmental organisations
about the use of babies in a television reality show, the National Commission
for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked the NDTV Imagine channel to show
cause by 7 October why the programme Pati Patni Aur Woh should not be stopped.
NCPCR sources told
indiantelevision.com that if it is not satisfied with the response of the channel,
it may recommend that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry should bar the
telecast. The
sources pointed out that the NCPCR had in early October last year issued guidelines
on ‘Participation of children in TV serials and advertisements’ to ensure
that children are not made to suffer unduly or harshly when they participate in
such shows. Ministry
sources confirmed that the NCPCR took action after some NGOs directly complained
to the Minister against the show. Anil
Kumar, who is secretary in the Ministry, said the NCPCR would examine the issue
and take appropriate action.
Kumar
confirmed that the NCPCR had also written to the I&B Ministry
to take action under its Programme Code.
Last
week, an NGO - Uday Foundation - made a written complaint against the show. The
NGO wrote to Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, the NCPCR and
the Labour Ministry. Pati
Patni Aur Woh, which commenced on 28 September, has been inspired by international
reality show Baby Borrowers and is about parenting, from living the life of an
eight-month pregnant woman to taking care of infants, toddlers, and teenagers.
The Indian version will also show the five celebrity couples taking care of senior
citizens in the last part of the series. Rakhi
Sawant-Elesh Parujanwala, Shilpa Saklani-Apurva Agnihotri, Juhi Parmar-Sachin
Shroff, Mouni Roy-Gaurav Chopra and Gurmeet Chaudhary-Debina Bonnerjee are in
the show. NDTV
Imagine sources said parents of the children were watching the proceedings via
closed-circuit television. They also said that the toddlers were expected to be
with the celebrity couples for only four days. | 
