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CBI’s interest
in the investigation of corruption in Doordarshan may sound new
to many but the fact remains that the investigating agency has registered
cases against many officials of Doordarshan including MB Pahari,
former Delhi Doordarshan Kendra director in the past two years.
Corruption is not a new issue in Doordarshan. Each time a new Director
General or CEO joins the organisation, his first priority becomes
the removal of corrupt officers and corruption from Doordarshan.
But very soon he realises that the task is not that easy. Now the
statements of the arrested controller of programmes of Kashir Channel
TK Das and his deputy MA Beg have cast doubt on the role of many
top officials of Doordarshan.
In this case,
CBI has found that programmes were being commissioned to production
houses which existed only on paper. The investigative agency has
also found that a serial of Kashir Channel was allotted to a private
producer whose registered address in DD files, was a hotel room
in Delhi. For Kashir Channel, funds came from the Ministry of Home
Affairs. And according to the guidelines of Home Ministry, only
bonafide residents of Jammu & Kashmir can make programmes for
the channel. But many producers of the channel did not have any
connection with Kashmir?
The commissioned
programmes and the process of commissioning in Doordarshan have
always been the subject of criticism by media and people related
to television industry. Though the level of corruption in the approval
of sponsored category is much higher than the level of corruption
in commissioned category, it does not attract much attention as
under sponsored category, DD does not give any money, to the producer.
The Information
& Broadcasting Ministry had issued directions to DD to empanel
outside private producers in 1992. These producers were entitled
to get commissioned programmes from DD. The practice went an till
SS Gill, former CEO of Prasar Bharati discontinued it saying it
is upto DD to decide which programme should be given to which company.
There was also a Central Commissioning Unit (CCU) whi-ch is almost
closed now. Some senior DD officials who have very clean image talk
about the political and other kind of pressure for approval of any
particular programme to any particular company or person. They say
that it is difficult to refuse ‘a very high level’ order.
While others talk about the uselessness of Kashir Channel which
has very little viewership in the valley. The channel, it may be
mentioned here was started to counter Pakistan propaganda. Pak TV
has a very strong viewership in the Valley.
One of the
aims of the Kashir Channel is to inform the people of Jammu &
Kashmir, Central Government’s policies and development work.
The programmes air the views of Kashmir people, mostly positive
and their ‘satisfaction’ with the Central Government Policies.
But as one producer claims “when we go to talk to the people
of Kashmir and expect them to talk positively on camera, they just
refuse. I know many producers who go to Army and BSF for help. And
they arrange Kashmir people who speak the way the producers want."
Meanwhile,
Doordarshan has decided that as soon as DD News Channel shuts down
on Janua-ry 26, 2002, there will be no commissioning of News or
News based programmes. News and current affairs programmes will
be produced in-house. DD officials blame the highly connected anchors
mostly journalists for the losses (about 100 crore) and closure
of the channel. Sources say that DD wanted to continue some quality
programmes under commissioned category on DD-1 but realising that
influential journalists would get the major share here also, decided
to scrap the commissioned programmes altogether. Even in the case
of sponsored category programmes, comptroller And Auditor General
(CAG) recently criticised DD for favouring Nalini Singh’s Aankho
Dekhi which resulted into loss of crores of rupee to the channel.
—Amitabh
Parashar
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