by Pankaj Yadav
NEW DELHI, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Employees of India's official television Doordarshan (DD), and official radio the All India Radio (AIR), seem to be at the receiving end amid a series of rows between the public broadcaster Prasar Bharati (PB) and the country's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
According to private news platform "The Wire" Minister of Information and Broadcasting Smriti Irani has taken the unprecedented step of "withholding funds," which the public broadcaster needs to pay the salaries of its employees.
As a result of her punitive action, "unparalleled in the history of the Government of India," the PB has had to pay its staff's salaries for January and February out of a contingency fund, PB Chairman Surya Prakash is quoted as saying.
"If the standoff continues, the broadcaster will run out of money by April," added the report.
Countering the report, the PB issued a statement on Friday evening, describing it as "a deliberate, sinister, motivated campaign" to wrongfully tarnish the image of the ministry.
"The misinformation is based on ill-will and incorrect appreciation with half baked facts and is tantamount to causing loss of reputation of the government in public eyes. It is patently defamatory in nature," said the statement.
Further clarifying, it said the PB is bound by the General Financial Rules (GFR) of the Government of India as any other ministry or organization receiving grants-in-aid from the government.
As per the GFR provision, any autonomous organization receiving grant-in-aid must sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the ministry, clearly bringing out the physical and financial targets with timelines for activities to be done by utilizing the said grant during that financial year.
"For the record, irrespective of repeated reminders from the ministry, no MoU has been signed by Prasar Bharati," it added further.
In its report published Thursday evening, "The Wire" claimed that there have been many instances where the PB and the ministry crossed swords. Citing examples, it said the PB strongly opposed the ministry's move to hire a private company to telecast the annual film festival, arguing that like every year the DD should be allowed to do it.
Then, the officers of the Indian Information Service (IIS) are said to be up in arms against the minister for her "arbitrary" transfers over the past couple of months. The agitated IIS officers are learnt to have written an open letter to the Prime Minister Office citing their grievances regarding their transfers.
"Transfer, say ministry sources, is Irani's favorite weapon. The moment she is displeased with an official, a transfer order is on its way," said the report published by "The Wire."
It also claimed that after she took over in July 2017 as minister of information and broadcasting, Irani has acted as a "super censor" pulling up DD for its coverage and criticizing it for not splashing stories which are "reflecting the success of the Government of India."
It also accused Irani of trying to fit in her favorite as senior journalists and other employees with the DD at the expense of the PB.
"Yes, our minister Ms Irani has been trying to assert herself in many areas, which is actually unprecedented. She transfers DD employees at the drop of the hat whenever anyone expresses a different point of view," said a senior DD employee on the condition of anonymity.