Prasar Bharati expects govt nod on recruitment in a month

Source: Business Standard

Wednesday, Sep 19, 2012

The state-owned autonomous broadcaster currently has 14,222 vacant positions across the country
Sounak Mitra / New Delhi September 17, 2012, 13:16 IST

Prasar Bharati hopes that the government will give final approval to fill up its vacant posts within a month, said an official at Prasar Bharati. The state-owned autonomous broadcaster currently has 14,222 vacant positions across the country.

 

The group of ministers has recommended that 3,452 critical positions can be filled up initially, said the official. The matter is expected to be discussed and given clearance within a month, the official added.

 

Prasar Bharati hopes that recruitment would be completed within the next three months, said the official. The recruitment process would be handled by Prasar Bharati Recruitment Board and Union Public Service Commission, informed the official. "Prasar Bharati need fresh young people with enthusiasm," he pointed out.

 

Prasar Bharati has 48,022 sanctioned positions across its two wings -- Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR). Currently 33,800 people are working. There are 8,469 vacancies at AIR and 5,753 posts with Doordarshan are lying vacant.

 

Last Friday, the Cabinet had approved the financial restructuring of Prasar Bharati. The government has waived debt of Rs 1,349.54 crore of Prasar Bharati.

 

The state-owned broadcaster has also been asked to take care of its operational costs and software expenses, but the government will continue to provide the wages and augmentation costs.

 

Prasar Bharati's current annual earnings were about Rs 1,300-1,500 crore and the operational cost estimated at Rs 1,500 crore. If the downtrend can be stopped, sustainability would not be an issue, said the official.