'Financial Autonomy Is The Answer'

The full transcript of the BBC Hindi special programme Aapki Baat BBC Ke Saath with the Informationand Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy on Why governments in India are afraid of autonomous public servicebroadcasters.

Nagendar Sharma: Mr Reddy the obvious first. Why are governments in India afraid ofproviding independence to state-run media?

Jaipal Reddy: I do not want to comment on the working style of my four immediate predecessors,but so far as I am concerned, my views on the autonomy of Prasar Bharti remain unchanged.  I am committedto see that the public service broadcasters in India are autonomous. My views remain what they were sevenyears ago.

BBC listener from Muscat: Sir, there are many 24-hour private TV news channels, and similarly thereis access to anything in the world on internet. Then why is radio under strict governmental control? Is itjustified. What should we expect from the new government?

Jaipal Reddy: I agree there should be no control of the government on Akashwani andDoordarshan. Legally, the Prasar Bharti is autonomous, all of you would recall that I implemented the PrasarBharti Act granting autonomy to this institution. At the moment, the major weakness being faced by Prasar Bharti is about the financial resources.Till the moment any institution is dependant on the government for finances, it cannot be expected to workindependently.

Nagendar Sharma: Mr Reddy, but if we look at the past five six years, the entire idea of autonomy toPrasar Bharti has been throttled in a very strange way. Look at the political appointments. What sort of autonomy are wetalking about ?

Jaipal Reddy: I agree with this, but then see the party which tried these tactics has beendefeated by the people. There is no point in being critical on those rejected by the people, I am looking atthe positive programme for the future now. My attention at the moment is focused at the financial autonomy ofPrasar Bharti.

Nagendar Sharma: But how would you provide financial autonomy to Prasar Bharti?

Jaipal Reddy: Today the expenditure of Prasar Bharti is Rs 1800 crore andthe income is Rs 600 crore. Now for Rs 1200  crore, it is dependant on thegovernment. Till the time Prasar Bharti is dependant for this money on the government, autonomy cannot bethere practically. Today I am the minister, tomorrow somebody else could be there, so could be anothergovernment. Therefore to put an end to this financial autonomy is the answer.

So far as how to do this--there are several options. Look at Britain, the country from where youare talking to me, there the BBC generates its resources from the Licence Fees. Since the BBC has its ownresources, it is independent and autonomous. Similarly, the Prasar Bharti should also be independent andautonomous. How to do it? I am working on this and looking for possible ways in consultation with all.

Nagendar Sharma: Mr Reddy, you are talking about revolutions and financial autonomy of Prasar Bharti. Butthe real situation is that all governments have made political appointments in Prasar Bharti Board, and theword autonomy exists in paper only. Isn’t this a sad state of affairs? What are the plans to reverse this ?

Jaipal Reddy: I do feel sad about political appointments. But the practical reality is that suchappointments are bound to be there in the existing political system and the only way out of this is providingfinancial autonomy to Prasar Bharti and this is what this government is working at.

Nagendar Sharma: Mr Reddy from where would the resources be generated for this financial autonomy?

Jaipal Reddy: See I am giving the example of Britain for financial resources, where the licence fees isthe source. In India, there used to a licence fee earlier, which was abolished. It could be there again, asmall cess could be levied, there are several other ideas like this. But no final decision has been taken sofar.   

BBC listener from Japan : Sir ever since the idea of Prasar Bharti was mooted way back in 1989,even after 15 years, this institution’s autonomy leaves a lot be desired. The tradition of politicalappointments is continuing without any break. And appointees are those who dance to the tune of their mentors.What would do you do for real autonomy?

Jaipal Reddy: See, legally Prasar Bharti is autonomous, as I said earlier, financially it is not. I amnot thinking about changes in these appointments. In our country the culture of autonomy is not there. Wewould have to encourage this culture. The officers appointed in India work as subordinates.

Nagendar Sharma: But Mr Reddy the new government has made a good beginning in the HRD ministry byappointing a committee of the experts to select the NCERT chairman. Would this be the case for allappointments so that this menace of political appointments be brought to an end and nobody should be able topoint a finger and accuse the governments?

Jaipal Reddy: I am working to put an end to such accusations only.

Nagendar Sharma: Would you elaborate Mr Reddy?

Jaipal Reddy: I would not like to bring any changes in the Prasar Bharti board. But the culture whichhas been there to speak only in the favour of the government would be changed. I am working in this direction.

BBC listener from Raipur: Sir, why do the governments  in India ignore radio? There are so many cable channels in India, but the poor man who can only afford radio has to be content withAkashwani. Why can’t radio listeners listen to world class news? The previous government had inaugurated FMfor Vividhbharti in 2001, but even that is not fully operational so far.

Jaipal Reddy: I agree that radio in India has been ignored to a large extent. I am going to giveparticular attention to the future of radio. So far as the local problem is concerned, it has been brought to my notice, I would look into itand take steps.

Nagendar Sharma: Mr Reddy, the TV revolution has changed the face of TV in India, but haven’t the radioand print  been left behind?

Jaipal Reddy: I feel the newspapers of India are doing well even when compared at the worldlevel. I think the Indian papers do compete well at the international level. There is no need for a revolutionfor the newspapers. For the radio, yes there is definitely a scope for improvement in radio, we are working onit.

Nagendar Sharma: Mr Reddy why has the radio in India been in so much tighter governmental control and whatis the plan for future?

Jaipal Reddy: The utility of radio has to be understood. Till now the governments have notrealised the radio potential, which has to be done now. We are encouraging private radio stations on the FM,and the potential of radio in Prasar Bharti would be encouraged further.

Nagendar Sharma: But Mr Reddy, even the private stations on FM are for music programmes, and thegovernments in India are reluctant to open radio for news and current affairs. Why?

Jaipal Reddy: We have not thought about this issue so far. It is not easy to bring a revolutionovernight. At the moment we are dealing with some fresh issues arising out of FM opening--let us solve thatfirst.

Nagendar Sharma: But Mr Reddy, news and current affairs of the entire world is available on TV, all views areavailable on internet--why should radio listeners suffer? Why not allow them to listen to world programmes ?

Jaipal Reddy: As an individual, I have my views, but now being a minister, I would not like tocomment at this moment.

BBC listener from UAE : Sir I feel that if autonomy is given to Prasar Bharti, corrupt officialswould be exposed. Look at the Tehelka case, so much pressure was exerted on Terun Tejpal, that the case waslost somewhere, as independence of media was undermined. You are back in the ministry what would you do now?

Jaipal Reddy: Tehelka was a private company and Prasar Bharti is a public broadcasting corporation.The CBI has a right to check corruption, CAG is there for accounting and auditing accuracy. My view is that bybeing independent, the scope of corruption is not there and such questions would not be there then.

Nagendar Sharma: But Mr Reddy Tehelka is an example of how ruling parties in India can undermine theindependence of media, by witch-hunting against those organisations which expose inconvenient stories. 

Jaipal Reddy: Such tendencies and such culture would have to be brought to an end. The way inwhich the previous government tried to suppress the Tehelka case has not been liked by the Indian public andthat is why the people voted against the BJP-led alliance. 

BBC listener from Bhopal : Sir, almost all TV channels showed opinion and exit polls during therecent general elections, and their findings are for all to see. How could a few analysts with their laptopsbe allowed to create an opinion for this vast country and that too wrong. Is the government looking at somecorrective measures ?

Jaipal Reddy: You are right, it is impossible to capture the public mood through any survey in a vastand diverse country like ours, but imposing a ban on such surveys is also not a good idea. I am in favour of aregulatory framework for the accountability of such surveys.

Nagendar Sharma: But Mr Reddy, there is a widespread perception that election surveys affect the voters’mind. How would you make the psephologists accountable and what standards should be there for them?

Jaipal Reddy: We would have to work for a regulatory framework to fix the accountability of thesepolls, which would be based on unanimity between all political parties--it is not a question of any particularparty. I am not in favour of any ban on such surveys as it would be against the spirit of democracy in India.

BBC listener from Hyderabad : Mr Reddy, foreign newspapers and periodicals, which deal with newsand current affairs are not allowed to have their editions from India. This is due to a Cabinet Resolution of1955. This has been in place for five decades now, would your government continue with this in print media?

Jaipal Reddy: See, the Cabinet Resolution of  1955 is still valid, but a number of changes overthe years have taken place. Earlier Foreign Direct Investmant (FDI) was not allowed at all, but now you have the FDIup to26 percent in print media. Similarly, seven and a half percent of the content of foreign newspapers can beused through syndication.  So, many changes have been made over the years, and we feel at the moment, thechanges made so far are sufficient.

Nagendar Sharma: Mr Reddy the day you assumed charge, you had expressed happiness on the stand taken byBBC in the stand-off against the British government. You favour a BBC style of functioning. From where wouldyou begin?

Jaipal Reddy: Well, the beginning would have to be done by the Prasar Bharti, I am the minister. I canprovide independence, but it is the Prasar Bharti which has to do it. The thinking is to have a culture ofindependence and autonomy.

BBC listener from Udaipur : Sir, any government which comes to power, tries to impose its viewsand ideology on Prasar Bharti, which as badly undermined the institution and its impartiality and autonomy.For example the last government, even started a 24 hour news channel on Doordarshan closer to the elections.It clearly shows how the governments use state media as a tool. Would your government be different or wouldthe same things continue?

Jaipal Reddy: Before the elections our party had also accused the government of misusing thischannel. But today I would not like to go into the past. I can assure you that our party and our governmentwould not misuse the Prasar Bharti in any way, we are clear.

Nagendar Sharma: Mr Reddy, however the original question remains, that there are ways and means to misusethe Prasar Bharti, why not make a law so that this misuse becomes impossible for all future governments?

Jaipal Reddy: See precisely for this reason, I am trying to bring a change in the system. So that theautonomy of Prasar Bharti is not dependant on the personality of the minister concerned. I would take steps tohave a new tradition of autonomy.

Nagendar Sharma: But despite this tall talk of autonomous tradition, having appointees of a particularideology in All India Radio and Doordarshan, which have the maximum reach in the country, isn’t thisinjustice with the people of the country ?

Jaipal Reddy: It is injustice beyond doubt, I agree, and I feel that diverse viewpoints shouldfind a place in AIR and DD.

BBC listener from Abohar : Sir, but what we have seen in our country is, that on AIR and DD youhear and see only the ruling party. What is the biggest obstacle in your view in making them autonomous?

Jaipal Reddy: The biggest obstacle is our own tendency. For any change, first of all, the minister andthe officials would have to change and develop an independent mindset. The second problem is absence offinancial autonomy and till the time any institution is dependant on the government financially, it cannot beindependent.

Nagendar Sharma: Mr Reddy your plan of financial autonomy could run into trouble, particularly from yourallies the Left parties. Are you confident of their support?

Jaipal Reddy: I can say about the Left parties that they are like myself committed about the autonomyof the public service broadcasters. They would not raise objections to resource generation, I am confident onthis front. 

Nagendar Sharma: Mr Reddy you say autonomy for Prasar Bharti, with financial autonomy is your priority.What else figures in your priority list?

Jaipal Reddy: There is a lack of clarity  in the print media policy. There is this issue ofFIIs and  what should be the definition of speciality magazines, I would try to bring a clarity to thismedia policy, by clearly defining these terms.

Nagendar Sharma: Mr Reddy, in the end,  I would like to ask whether your government would reverse andchange the policies of the NDA government , to which your party and your allies were opposed ?

Jaipal Reddy: We would change only where it is necessary. But I am clear that we would notmake unnecessary changes. The government is a continuous institution, and abrupt changes are not in theinterest of the country.