Ordinance to ease Prasar Bharati chairman out

New Delhi, February 1: When it took charge, the Congress-led UPA Government didn’t oust NDA-appointee M V Kamath from the Prasar Bharati Board. But a year before his term comes to an end, the government has apparently changed its mind.

Sources said that on January 24, the Cabinet approved an ordinance to amend the Prasar Bharati Act fixing the upper age limit of board chairman at 70 years. The Act, as it stands now, does not fix any age for the chairman but provides him a six-year stint.

So Kamath, who is 86, will have to resign before his term comes to an end on January 9, 2009. “I was expecting this for a long time. I am happy now,” said Kamath when told of the government’s move.

Kamath was in the news recently for refusing to toe Prasar Bharati CEO BS Lalli’s line to induct fellow IAS officers in All Indian Radio and Doordarshan (DD). The Board, on January 11, blocked the move to provide for professionals in radio and TV as recommended by the parliamentary standing committee.

The ordinance, which is yet to reach the President for approval, comes days before Parliament’s Budget session. Though the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs has approved the dates, these have not been sent to President for notification. Usually, ordinances are not promulgated once session dates are announced.

In January 2003, the Congress party had called Kamath’s appointment as “one more blatant attempt by the National Democratic Alliance government to influence DD and AIR”. The Prasar Bharati, a statutory autonomous body, regulates the working of AIR and Doordarshan which were earlier working as independent media units under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

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