The Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati on Thursday refused to entertain the directive of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to hire two senior journalists in editorial positions. Apart from this, sources claimed that the Prasar Bharati board also declined the ministry’s suggestion of having a serving bureaucrat of the ministry as a member on the board.
Sources said the board members were of the view that it can’t afford to pay high salaries to the two journalists who are current working with private media groups.
According to the sources, the highest salary paid to a contractual employee in the public broadcaster is not more than Rs 1.6 lakh per month. Board members were of the view that a public entity can’t pay a package of Rs 1 crore annually.
There was a proposal to appoint senior journalists Siddharth Zarabi and Abhijit Majumder in editorial positions.
On the suggestion of the ministry to appoint an IAS officer as member (Personnel) in the board, Prasar Bharati was of the view that the proposal bypasses the set law under which members are appointed.
As per the rules, appointment of the Chairman and members of the board are done on the recommendation of a committee consisting the Vice-President, the Chairman of the Press Council of India and a nominee of the President. Member (personnel) is responsible for all human resources and administrative decisions of the body and has a representation in the board and the post has been lying vacant for about a year.
Sources said that the Prasar Bharati is an autonomous body and ministry has certain defined roles into its functioning.