New Delhi: Under attack over the editing of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s interview by Doordarshan, the Union government on Saturday said it has maintained an “arm’s length” relationship with Prasar Bharati and that steps suggested by an expert committee for further autonomy to it are under consideration.
Escalating the controversy, Mr Modi on Saturday rued the “decline” in journalistic freedom of the public broadcaster and invoked “horrific” memories of the Emergency days of 1975. “On days such as this, I feel very sad to see our national TV channel struggling to maintain its professional freedom,” Mr Modi wrote on Twitter while extending his wishes to journalists on World Press Freedom Day.
The Prasar Bharati will decide on Monday whether or not a probe is needed into the row. “We will look at papers on Monday and take a call,” Prasar Bharti CEO Jawhar Sircar told a news agency. Meanwhile, Union information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari said the autonomy of Prasar Bharati is guaranteed by an Act of the Parliament and that after he took over in October 2012, he had initiated steps to grant more autonomy to it by constituting the Sam Pitroda Committee.
“The autonomy of Prasar Bharati is guaranteed by an Act of the Parliament. It is a board-run organisation and the I&B ministry has an arm’s length relationship with it,” Mr Tewari said.
