| MUMBAI:
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni today said the government was
contemplating using ex-servicemen from the army and former policemen for the work
of running television transmitters in the border areas.
She said it was
important that Indian broadcasting signals should be stronger than that coming
from China or Pakistan.
Meanwhile, she emphasized that while the government
was in favour of self-regulation, it had to find a middle path in view of the
pressures to act from Parliament, the Court and the Public.
Speaking
on the eve of the 50th birthday of Doordarshan, Soni said there was also need
for a change of mindset about Prasar Bharati which was autonomous in law but not
in the public eye. She said it was clear from the programming, including films
made by the Public Service Broadcasting Trust and others, that both Doordarshan
and All India Radio had complete autonomy without government interference on a
day-to-day basis. But the challenge was to deliver and also change the mindset.
At
the same time, she said it was necessary to accept the fact that Prasar Bharati
was making socially relevant programmes unlike the private channels which were
only fighting for television rating points, and it was going to areas that private
channels did not find viable.
In that sense, Prasar Bharati had managed
to build its own model of public service broadcasting, Soni said, while addressing
a meet on the role of public service broadcasting held as part of the Open Frame
2009 of the Public Service Broadcasting Trust which is supported by Prasar Bharati.
She indicated that the Government intended to continue its support to the PSBT.
Doordarshan was first established in the country on 15 September 1959 with
an hour-long daily telecast but began regular telecasts only in the seventies.
Noting that films made by PSBT for Doordarshan had won four awards in the
55th National Film Awards, Doordarshan Director General Aruna Sharma said the
50th anniversary was a time for introspection to examine the role of the public
broadcaster. At the same time, it was also time to consider how Doordarshan could
penetrate in a big way in the cable and satellite sector even as it had the highest
terrestrial reach.
Eminent filmmakers Shyam Benegal, Mrinal Sen and Adoor
Gopalakrishnan spoke of greater independence to the public service broadcaster.
Benegal said there should be no pressure on Doordarshan to compete with private
TV broadcasters. "Prasar Bharati has no business to be in the business of
business," he added. Running
Prasar Bharati should be the responsibility of the state, preferably through licensing
so that it is not perceived as the voice of the government, and it should not
have to compete with private channels.
Noted jurist Fali S Nariman said
Prasar Bharati should be the facilitator and protector of the rights enshrined
in the Constitution and ‘should gamble with liberty’. He said the role
of the media and its freedom had been recognised soon after independence, despite
the fact that the Constitution does not specifically talk about freedom of the
press, a term brought in by the Supreme Court. He said the ideal situation was
of lesser controls as was the case in the early years. Sen
said there was need to combat the legislation of dependence and run the public
service broadcaster in an autonomous manner.
Both he and Gopalakrishnan
said it took them some time to accept the television medium for their films, but
they realized they got greater reach through this.
PSBT
Managing Trustee Rajiv Mehrotra said the Trust helps around 52 films a year and
has so far won 81 national and 31 international awards. He said the biggest challenge
for the public service broadcaster was to reach out to the disadvantaged sections
of society.
I&B Secretary Raghu Menon, senior critic Aruna Vasudev,
Central Board of Film Certification Chairperson Sharmila Tagore and senior broadcaster
Kiran Karnik were also present on the occasion.
The Open Frame commenced
on 11 September and will continue till 17 September. | 
