JAITLEY REELS FROM KNEE-JERK REACTION

Information and broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley has been caught in a storm, following on his exercising a legal option to terminate the services of two Prasar Bharati board members, Romilla Thapar and D.P.Yadav. Several public figures and politicians have summarily criticised his decision, saying that he is dumping the board members because he wants to replace them with pro-BJP and National Democratic Alliance functionaries. His biggest critic has been the former I&B minsiter Jaipal Reddy who helped constitute Jaitley denied this in a show on Star Plus calling the dismissed board members as pro-leftist. He constantly reiterated that he is trying to professionalise the organisation. And hence, the appointment of professionals such as Infosys chief N R Narayana Murthy, Discovery India head Kiran Karnik and marketing veteran Shunu Sen to come up with their recommendations on what the Prasar Bharati should do.

While some critics argue the committee formation is a bid by the BJP-led government to cover up for its harsh decision to dump the two appointees, Jaitley said that the committee had the snazziest credentials and its mandate was to come up with strategies to restructure Doordarshan from the personnel, finance, and quality of programming. "The hue and cry about our decision is all part of an anti-BJP-ism wave," he says. He adds: "The appalling fact is that DD does not have a marketing department," says Jaitley. "Can a large organisation of 40,000 employees afford that? Should there be so many employees or should there be just 10,000 of them? I'm positive we will succeed."