A Surya Prakash receives second term as Prasar Bharati chairman

Senior journalist A Surya Prakash receives a second consecutive term as the chairman of Prasar Bharati.

"The President (Ram Nath Kovind) on recommendation of the selection committee is pleased to appoint A Surya Prakash as the Chairman of Prasar Bharati Board with effect from the date of his assuming charge of the post for a term upto February 8, 2020, the date he attains the age of 70 years," said the Information and Broadcasting Ministry's notification.

The three-member selection committee was head by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and had The Press Council of India (PCI) chairman Justice (retd) C K Prasad and the I&B Ministry secretary N K Sinha as its members.

"The cornerstone of my engagement with Prasar Bharati does not change at all; at best it gets reinforced. My core pre-occupation will remain professionalising Prasar Bharati, creating content which is in sync with the New India vision, and digitisation. Yet, never losing sight of the core agenda of a public service broadcaster," a news agency quoted Prakash as saying on his re-appointment. Prakash, a distinguished fellow at a Delhi-based think tank Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), was first appointed as the Prasar Bharati chairman for a term of three years in October 2014 soon after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance came to power at the Centre recording a thumping victory in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Before coming at the helm of affairs at the Prasar Bharati, he held various key positions in several print and electronic media organizations during his stint as a journalist.