CHENNAI: Ever wondered why the once all powerful All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD) have negligible fans now? Lack of sufficient staff and denial of promotions to existing ones have affected the performance of the public sector broadcaster when private players continue to gobble up market share. Across India, around 300 AIR stations and DD kendras remain headless due to the violation of statutory recruitment rules by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the AIR Director General.
Moreover, at least a thousand AIR and DD programme executives who were recruited by Union Public Services Commission through national-level selection have been denied even a single promotion in over 30 years. They were forced to work under contractual conditions, while others have been illegally inducted and given multiple promotions, alleges Association of UPSC-Recruited Programme Officers of AIR & DD (AUPO).
The I&B Ministry and AIR Director General refuse to take cognizance of the findings of the UPSC and advice of Department of Personnel and Training.
Moreover, according to AUPO, they also have not implemented the court’s direction to conduct a Review Departmental Promotion Committee meet as per the statutory recruitment rules. AUPO State Coordinator N Tamil Vanan told Express that out of 17 AIR & DDK stations in Tamil Nadu only one station has a Station Director in the cadre of Deputy Director General.