A board meeting of the public broadcaster, Prasar Bharati, discussed the ways and means to restructure its units—Doordarshan and All India Radio—here on Thursday. Rightsizing of the organisation was also part of the discussion. The National Productivity Council (NPC) made a presentation to the board during a marathon meeting, following which members deliberated on revamp strategies for the pubcaster.
One of the points highlighted in the meeting was running Prasar Bharati on the model of UK’s state broadcaster, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), according to a source. MNC-style functioning of the media house was discussed, he said.
Downsizing or rightsizing of Prasar Bharati was also on the agenda, it is learnt. Exact targets for cutting the workforce was not taken up. But, a Prasar Bharati insider said that for many years now, no fresh recruitments are taking place. When employees retire, the vacant positions are not getting filled up. The same trend would continue, he said. “It is all about SAM (Save And Manage),” according to an official.
A decision by the Prasar Bharati board on the issue of restructuring would take some time, it is learnt. “The process (of restructuring) has however been set in motion,” a source said.
Although broadcast of Commonwealth Games is still a pending issue, it was not discussed on Thursday. The matter is likely to be taken up next month, an official said. It is not known yet as to who would get to produce and beam the Commonwealth Games, scheduled for October 2010 in New Delhi.
Although Prasar Bharati would have been the host broadcaster, it does not have the capability for digital broadcast. It is essential for the Commonwealth Games broadcaster to have the digital telecast capability.
Prasar Bharati had asked NPC to prepare a report sometime in 2006 on how Prasar Bharati can be made more effective and economically viable. On Thursday, the report was presented to the board.
NPC is a national level organisation to promote productivity culture in India. Established as a registered society by the government, it is an autonomous, tri-partite, non-profit organisation with equal representation from the government, employers and workers’ organisations, apart from technical and professional institutions. It provides training and consultancy, besides undertaking research in the area of productivity.
