‘If I am paying, I cannot be at arm’s length’: Manish Tewari

Source: The Hindu | New Delhi| Prashant Jha

April 5, 2013

I&B Minister Manish Tewari with Dr. Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister at the opening session of the Expert Committee on Prasar Bharati in New Delhi on Friday. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar.

Prasar Bharati chair Mrinal Pande stings government with criticism

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari said on Friday that if the government was footing the bills of Prasar Bharati (PB), it could not be expected to keep an "arm's length" from the public broadcaster. His remarks followed stinging criticism by PB Board chairperson Mrinal Pande, who tore into the "intricate circles of bureaucratic power" surrounding the institution.

Both were speaking at the inaugural session of a meeting of the recently constituted expert committee to review PB's functioning. The committee is headed by the Prime Minister's adviser on public information infrastructure, Sam Pitroda.

Mr. Tewari said the key issue was whether India needed a public broadcaster, and its relationship with the government. "Two-thirds of I&B Ministry's budget — Rs.1,885 crore of the Rs.2,800 crore — goes to Prasar Bharati. I am the recruiting authority, the disciplinary authority, the sanctioning authority. Yet, I am supposed to keep an arm's length. I am not God."

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