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GOM descision: Only the 50% operating expenses of AIR & DD from
government.
The GOM meet held on 16-04-2010 has decided to cap the Centre’s annual
financial support to Prasar Bharati at 50 per cent of its operating
expenses, and to transfer all property and assets to its books at the cost
they were originally acquired, and to also lift the ban on recruitment.
A group of ministers under Home Minister P Chidambaram pushed through the
financial restructuring plan — pending since the UPA first came to power in
2004 — at its very first meeting on April 16. The decision is expected to
have a long-term negative impact on the financial health of Prasar Bharati
and its effective functioning as the National & Public Service
Broadcaster of our country .
“It will be for Prasar Bharati to fend for itself and raise the balance 50
per cent of operating expenses through internal and extra budgetary
resources over the next five years,” an official told the press. The element
of state financial support will be further curtailed after 2014-15, the
official added. Finance Ministry officials present at the meeting said the
decisions take effect from the current fiscal 2010-11 and will be reviewed
after five years.
The
government move will effectively reduce by half the non-plan outlay
component given to Prasar Bharati from the budgetary allocations of the
information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry.
The GoM, which also includes Minister for Information and Broadcasting
Ambika Soni, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Prithviraj
Chavan and Law Minister Veerappa Moily, decided that the government would
pay 50 per cent of the annual operating expenses as non-Plan grant.
The GoM also decided to take care of Prasar Bharati’s Plan Expenditure
(long-term investment for building assets, expansion) by providing grants
and not loans, as has been the practice hitherto. Loans have to be paid back
with interest, whereas grants neither carry interest burden nor need to be
returned.
In 2009-10, Prasar Bharati’s revenues at Rs 1,050 crore were less than 50
per cent of its total operating expenses at Rs 2,200 crore. Doordarshan generated 76 per cent of its revenues. “Prasar Bharati
is just about able to generate 50 per cent of operating expenses now. It
will clearly have to pull up its socks to be able to do this consistently,”
a Prasar Bharati official, who did not wish to be named, said.
Till now, Prasar Bharati gets the
government support under three heads—grants-in-aid, loans and investments in
public enterprises. The grant consists of plan and non-plan funds. Following
the GoM decision, the government will reduce the non-plan allocation by half
while it will continue to support Prasar Bharati through plan funding and
loans.
The non-plan outlay allocated to Prasar Bharati is utilised for meeting the
cost of operating expenses and augmentation, replacement and maintenance
cost of capital assets of the AIR and DD besides meeting the shortfall in
their salary component. This means, Prasar Bharati, which clocked in excess
of Rs 1,000 crore in revenue for 2009-10 fiscal, will have to fund its
operational expenses from within its resources.
In Budget 2010-11, the government provided Rs 1,757 crore as grant to Prasar
Bharati, 24 per cent more than the amount set aside the previous financial
year. The Finance Ministry will take fresh projections of operating expenses
from the corporation since the GoM decisions are effective from this year
itself.
FRIENDS OF
PRASAR BHARATI condemn the decision of the GOM to fund only 50 per
cent of the operating expenses of AIR & DD (Prasar Bharati )and
demands for the complete and direct funding of AIR & DD by the government to
enable AIR & DD to become a true Public Service Broadcaster & National
Broadcaster and performe its mandate given by the Parliament of our
country
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Thank you for your
interest.||||||
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