Prasar Bharati Act 1990 on its Way Out

The hunger strike by the employees of AIR & DD entered its third day today, with political lobbying by NFADE leaders. The employees are demanding repeal of Prasar Bharati. It is being contended that the Prasar Bharati Act has not only become redundant in today’s context, but All India Radio and Doordarshan have suffered adversely during the 12 years under Prasar Bharati.

Today the lunch hour gate meeting was addressed by Comrade D. Raja, Hon’ble MP and national secretary-CPI, besides the NFADE leaders. NFADE leaders highlighted the miserable conditions of AIR and DD all these years. Instead of becoming an autonomous competitive organization, Prasar Bharati has become a suitable tool for harassing the employees and keeping the decisions pending for indefinite time. The government has also admitted it very clearly, through an affidavit in Supreme Court, that Prasar Bharati is not financially viable and will not be able to fulfill the responsibility of National Broadcaster if left to itself, under the present conditions. While some of the centers of AIR and DD are located in main cities, but majority of the stations are located in remote areas which do not have a commercial viability. Therefore, survival of Prasar Bharati without government grants is next to impossible. Availability of a number of private electronic media channels on the media horizon has further made the concept of 1970s outdated.
 
Sh. Raja also agreed with the viewpoint of AIR and DD employees and expressed his party’s fullest support in the campaign of NFADE. Sh Raja also assured the employees that this issue will be highlighted in the coming session of the Parliament, so that the issue can be debated threadbare and AIR and DD get the due justice in due course.

Today’s hunger strike is also being observed at all capital station in India, with gate meetings being addressed by a number of hon’ble MPs and prominent trade union leaders.