Rathore takes hold of issues plaguing MIB

The Information and Broadcast Ministry led by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has been immediately saddled with the important tasks of clearing three TV channel applications, organising a meeting of broadcast industry stakeholders, and the matter of leasing space on foreign satellites.

The three television channels, Astha Kannada, Astha Tamil, and Astha Telugu that are the regional language subsidiaries of the Astha network that broadcasts religious progammes in Hindi, have been green lighted by the government – bank processes and paperwork still need to be completed.

The regional TV channels are part of Vedic Broadcasting Ltd (VBL) run by Archarya Balakrishna a close associate of Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev.

The MIB has a backlog of 100 applications for TV channels from big and small broadcasters. Independent critics have lauded the swift action taken by the ministry after the halt in processes in the past nine months. Government and industry sources have indicated that under the leadership of Rathore the MIB is looking to bring things to order and perhaps completely undo the changes brought about by previous MIB head Smriti Irani.

In a meeting held this week, the representatives of a broadcasting company in charge of 30 TV channels shared their concerns with the ministry. This meeting was also attended by officials representing the Department of Space and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

The TV channels representatives ventured switching their broadcasts from Indian satellites to foreign ones in the meeting. They addressed their concerns to ISRO officials who, according to sources, were unwilling to share their data on disaster and backup management, in case of an irregularity that would interrupt their broadcast. The MIB politely advised them from making a hasty decision as it would not be in the national interest. Further meetings may be scheduled with representatives from other broadcasters according to sources.