I&B ministry in turf war with Prasar Bharati

Both lock horns over appointments, fat pay

The Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry under Smriti Irani and its arm Prasar Bharati are engaged in a turf war over their powers and jurisdiction to appoint an editor-in-chief for the public broadcaster and engage consultants at DD news.

The trouble began after the ministry recently sent names of two senior media persons to the public broadcaster for appointing one of them as the editor-in-chief of the Prasar Bharati News Service with a fat pay package.

The public broadcaster refused to accept the ministry's proposal. Most of the members of the Prasar Bharati board took objections to the ministry's proposal, observing that it was an attempt to "encroach upon the autonomy" of the pubic broadcaster.

The members, at a recent meeting of the board, also wondered how the Prasar Bharati could hire an editor-in-chief with a whopping pay package in the range of Rs 75 lakh to Rs 1 crore per annum.

"There is too much pressure from the ministry on this appointment. The members of the board question the fat salary as the highest compensation paid to the contractual employees in the Prasar Bharati has been in the range of Rs 18 lakh to Rs 19.2 lakh so far," sources told DH.

The public broadcaster also "dropped" another suggestion by the ministry to appoint a serving IAS officer as member (personnel) on the Prasar Bharati Board, irking the I&B ministry.

The members of the board observed that the ministry's suggestion in this regard was not only violative of  the Prasar Bharati Act but also "denigrating" to the office of the vice-president of India.

As per existing rules, an official said, the member (personnel) has to be appointed on the recommendation of a committee, headed by the vice-president.

The Prasar Bharati has also been at loggerheads with the I&B ministry over the appointment of consultants by the former.  

The ministry, in a letter to the Prasar Bharati on February 5, had ordered for discontinuing the services of several consultants taking cognizance of some complaints which accused the public broadcaster of engaging consultants "without any assessment of need, formal approval or selection in a transparent manner".

"Such an engagement strictly contravenes the orders of the Government of India, department of expenditure, and may be stopped immediately. In the same context, no extension may be given to the consultants whose term has expired," the ministry said in its order.

The Prasar Bharati, however, turned down the ministry's  directive in this connection.