With the meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM), looking into the functioning and status of Prasar Bharati, indefinitely deferred, fingers are being pointed at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for tardy implementation of the bail-out package meticulously worked out in the public broadcaster’s favour last year.The GoM, chaired by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, was scheduled to meet on Wednesday. “It was deferred at the last moment, as certain loose-ends are yet to be tied,” sources said.One of the key areas in which the ministry was expected to give inputs to the GoM on was manpower utilisation. The ministry was asked to carry out a survey on manpower requirement of Prasar Bharati. The survey would also help to integrate the existing workforce into Prasar Bharati’s fold on a permanent basis, with a regularised financial package, to eradicate the confusion over their status. The I&B Ministry was also asked to suggest amendments to the existing Prasar Bharati Act to carry out the GoM recommendations. The idea is to bring the corporation at par with professionally managed PSUs and not keep them under the Government of India’s fold. However, sources said, the mammoth task is yet to be accomplished as the ministry is still working on ways to make maximum use of the technical expertise of its workforce.The liaison with the government is needed not just to create a positive atmosphere, but also to spread the messages of the social and health sectors, “which is rarely the focus of commercially-operated private broadcasters”. “Whether it is the awareness campaign on polio or AIDS, or transmission of basic information on social sector schemes launched and run by the Centre, the Prasar Bharati-run DD-AIR are the only platforms available to the government,” said sources.The passage of the Mandatory Sharing of Sports Signal was also part of the agenda to help Prasar Bharati regain its position. Last year, the GoM managed to extract a Rs 3,700 crore bail-out package for the public sector from a rather reluctant Finance Ministry.The GoM was to also take a decision on hiring professionals from outside to boost the quality of broadcasting and also improve its financial viability.
