Want full Govt funding: Prasar Bharati tells

 Parliamentary panel

            The Prasar Bharati Corporation wants full government funding for Doordarshan and All India  Radio to enable them to perform their role as a public broadcaster.The Prasar Bharati Board conveyed its views on the issue to the Parliamentary Consultative committee which held its meeting at New Delhi on Feb 19,2010

             According to sources, the Prasar Bharati told the Parliamentary panel that if it is  made to depend on commercial programming for its funding, its mandate as public broadcaster would be affected.

            The Prasar Bharati Corporation had been suffering from financial  crunch for quite some time.

            It was under pressure from the Government to generate its own funds, and come up with a viable business model. However, for that it would have to reorient its programmes to attract advertisements among other things. In a presentation to the Committee, the Prasar Bharati said the Government could go in for a BBC type of model and fund it fully while letting it function as an autonomous broadcaster.

         The BBC model was cited when the Prasar Bharati was asked how it could function independently after being dependent on government funds, sources said.

       FRIENDS OF PRASAR BHARATI welcomes the move by the PRASAR BHARATI  Board to demand   full government funding for  All India  Radio and  Doordarshan to enable them to perform their role as  Public Broadcaster & National Broadcaster  of our Nation.

      One of the argument against the direct funding of  All India  Radio and Doordarshan by the Government is the  concept that the direct funding may  affect the independence  and autonomy of All India  Radio and  Doordarshan  .This is not  true, and can be avoided. If that argument is to be believed how  can we say that our constitutional bodies (eg. judiciary, Election Commission..etc.) are independent,     because they are also  directly funded by the government.