Due to 48 hours long boycott of duty agitation by the NFADE to Repeal Prasar Bhrati ACt  , the services of AIR &DD disrupted all over the india, In many places the agitated employees conducted sit- in dharna in support of their demands, .Please read the details of the reports from various parts of the country.

Prasar Bharati strike hits broadcasts

Prasar Bharati employees began a 48-hour strike on Tuesday morning, affecting broadcasts on All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan. The striking staff are demanding a repeal of the Prasar Bharati Act which takes the organisation out of government control or responsibility, making it autonomous.

The strike was called by the National Federation of Akashvani and Doordarshan Employees (NFADE), which claimed that over 90 per cent of the 1,800 stations run by the two public broadcasters had been crippled by the agitation.

“1,700 stations have been hit, with 38,000 employees boycotting their duties,” claimed NFADE chairman S. Anil Kumar. He claimed that with all technical, office and logistical staff not working, several regional channels were off air, with most others forced to play pre-recorded content only. “AIR's AM channel is only playing bhajans,” he said. “Even DD National was off air for two hours.”

This was strongly disputed by DD Director-General Aruna Sharma, who said that 8 channels, including DD News, DD India and DD Sports, had faced no disruptions at all, while four channels in the southern region and another in the north-east have just been forced to switch to national programming. “Only the Bhubaneswar and Kolkata stations were completely affected,” she insisted. “DD News was disrupted for just five minutes.”

News journalists and anchors are often government information officers or contract employees, and hence are not affected by the strike. DD Sports is running the Asian Games telecast and has also not been affected.

In spite of repeated attempts, it was not possible to get an update on the strike's impact from AIR Director-General Noreen Naqvi.

NFADE's “minimum demand”, that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry agree to send a proposal to Parliament to repeal the Prasar Bharati Act, was rejected at a meeting with officials on Monday. “We have already given notice, of a 72-hour strike from December 13. If our demand is not met, and if necessary, that can be extended indefinitely,” warned Mr. Anil Kumar.

“For the last 13 years [since the Prasar Bharati Act's implementation in 1997], we have seen that the organisation is not financially viable,” said the NFADE chairman, claiming that the CEO, B.S. Lalli, was misleading the government when he said that Prasar Bharati had earned 55 per cent of its expenditure.

Read more:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/article908560.ece?css=print

Doordarshan, AIR go silent .
CHENNAI: For the first time in their history, All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan (DD) channels went blank at 9 am on Tuesday morning, for reasons that were not technical. A nationwide strike by the National Federation of Akashvani and Doordarshan Employees (NFADE) on Prasar Bharati foundation day crippled operations of the two national broadcasters.
The NFADE strike, which would continue till Wednesday evening, was aimed at forcing the Central government to dissolve the ill-performing Prasar Bharati and return AIR and DD to direct control of the Central government.
Employees of AIR and DD staged dharnas in front of their offices across the country. Even station directors were reported to have joined the dharnas at a number of places. As soon as the strike began at 9 am on Tuesday, all regional channels of AIR and DD went blank. News services continued to operate, but were unable to run the scheduled news bulletins as the technical staff were not present to broadcast the content.Regional Doordarshan stations cut to the transmission of DD National, which was still operational with skeletal staff.

         “We had to defer our agitation earlier only due to written assurances from Prasar Bharati CEO B S Lalli and the Information and Broadcasting ministry that a representation of our demands would be made to the Group of Ministers,” NFADE chairman S Anil Kumar told Express. But Lalli misrepresented Prasar Bharati’s financial state to the GoM, he claimed.
NFADE office bearers say Prasar Bharati has proved, in the 12 years of its existence, that is was doomed to financial inviablity and that this fact was impeding the role of AIR and DD as public service broadcasters. “We have been producing programmes based on the government’s policy. These programmes are in public interest and not very saleable. Now creative staff are being made to run from pillar to post to find sponsors. What is the sense in turning a public service broadcaster into a commercial broadcaster overnight?,” asks a senior marketing executive in Chennai.

 Read more: <http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/doordarshan-air-go-silent/225627.html>

New Delhi, Nov 23 (IANS) Employees of All India Radio and Doordarshan Tuesday went on a 48-hour strike to press their demand for repeal of the Prasar Bharati Act, bringing operations of the state-run radio and television channels to a standstill all over the country.The strike called by the National Federation of Akashvani and Doordarshan Employees (NFADE), an umbrella body of 21 service associations of around 38,000 employees of the two broadcast agencies, started 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Almost 1,000 employees are staging a sit-in at the All India Radio building on Sansad Marg and the Doordarshan office at Mandi House here, secretary general of NFADE Kulbhushan Bhatia told IANS.

“All over the country, 90 percent of the stations are off the air as of now. Doordarshan is showing dry tapes, while on DD National they are airing movies,” Bhatia said.

The NFADE has been organising a series of agitation programmes to “save” the national broadcaster.

“When the Prasar Bharati Act was brought, it was not discussed in parliament, now that they are bringing an amendment to the bill, major concerns like financial viability are still not addressed,” Bhatia said.

AIR, DD services disrupted due to strike by technical staff.
New Delhi, Nov 23 (PTI) National broadcasters AIR and Doordarshan today suffered interruptions in their services with almost their entire technical staff going on a 48-hour strike demanding repealing of the Prasar Bharti Act.
The strike called by the National Federation of Doordarshan and AIR employees led to 95 per cent of AIR and 60 per cent of Doordarshan centres not functioning, AIR and Doordarshan Engineers'' Association General Secretary P N Bhakta said here.he technicians are demanding repeal of the Prasar Bharti Act "as it has not been able to function".

Journalists and anchors were on duty but AIR could not broadcast any bulletin after 10am due to technical disruptions on account of the strike, the Federation claimed but AIR sources said that there was no "total disruption".AIR sources said the 2.30pm Hindi bulletin went on the air while the broadcast of 2 pm English bulletin was somewhat successful. "We have put the news on our websites," the source said.Official sources said the functioning of DD and AIR were "badly affected" and in DD only films were run while usual programmes were kept aside.

Though the DD has managed to air news, sources said the quality was "heavily compromised" as recorded bulletins were repeated the whole day. Updating was a problem along with technical glitches, the sources said.When contacted, Doordarshan director general Aruna Sharma said that regional centres Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Jalandhar and Thiruvananthapuram were not operating. "They are showing national programmes. News is running and Asian Games telecast is fine," she told PTI. AIR director general Noureen Naqvi could not be contacted for comments

Strike to demand repeal of Prasar Bharati Act
November 24, 2010 6:34:36 AM

Pioneer News Service | New Delhi

With the employees of All India Radio and Doordarshan going on a 48-hour strike demanding repeal of the Prasar Bharati Act, operations of the State-run radio and television channels came to a standstill on Tuesday.

The strike has been called by the National Federation of Akashvani and Doordarshan Employees (NFADE), an umbrella body of 21 service associations of around 38,000 employees of the two broadcast agencies.

Employees staged dharna at Akashwani Bhavan and Doordarshan office at Mandi House to “save” the national broadcaster, sources said.
Read more: http://www.dailypioneer.com/298645/Strike-to-demand-repeal-of-Prasar-Bharati-Act.html

'Tainted' Prasar Bharti CEO in trouble
23 Nov 2010, 1958 hrs IST
The 'tainted' Prasar Bharti CEO BS Lalli finds himself in major trouble after several thousand employees held a massive demonstration seeking his ouster in Delhi.

The CEO has been under the scanner after TIMES NOW exposed his alleged links to the CWG broadcast scandal. In fact, following TIMES NOW investigation, even the Supreme Court weighed in on Lalli though in the context of a different matter.
 

DD, AIR go blank as 38,000 staffers strike
Himanshi Dhawan, TNN, Nov 24, 2010, 04.01am IST
NEW DELHI: Audiences across the country were caught unawares as national and regional stations of Doordarshan and All India Radio went on a blink or ran old programmes on Tuesday following a sudden strike by 38,000 Prasar Bharati employees.

What's surprising is that the staffers, who have announced a 48-hour stir, are not agitating over work-related issues, but against Prasar Bharati CEO B S Lalli's alleged involvement in the Commonwealth Games broadcast mess. They have also demanded the repeal of the PB Act. The National Federation of Akashvani and Doordarshan Employees is backed by 21 organizations, including camerapersons, engineers and producers. With most employees striking work, the broadcaster had to depend on contract employees.


Read more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6978975.cms?prtpage=1

Historic silence: Staff strike switches off Akashvani, Doordarshan in Gujarat

DNA / Paras Jha / Wednesday, November 24, 2010 13:36 IST
Ahmedabad. History was created when the technical staff of biggest public service broadcaster of the biggest democracy in the world refrained from work in protest against the functioning of Prasar Bharati, the body that runs AIR and DD. Important broadcasts like cricket commentary of the Nagpur Test and live coverage of the Asian Games could not reach the masses. Gujarati tunes on Vividh Bharati and Gujarati Service of All India Radio (AIR) also went off the air.

While Gujarat’s Doordarshan centres continued to air their pre-recorded programmes, all the nine AIR centres in the state went off the air. There are nearly 1,500 employees of AIR and DD working in the state.

Gujarat also has two major production centres of DD. A release issued by Vijay Gajjar, organising secretary of NFADE (National Federation of Akashawani and Doordarshan Employees), West Zone and Trilok Sanghani, coordinator of NFADE, Ahmedabad said: “The basic idea of autonomy to Prasar Bharati has miserably failed. On the contrary, the image of both the mass mediums as a public service broadcaster has deteriorated after the formation of Prasar Bharati. Moreover, the mammoth task of providing an easy platform to deserving talent spread over every nook and corner of our country has also been halted due to want of sufficient funds.” The strike in Gujarat is part of the nationwide strike by AIR and DD employees that started at 9 am on Tuesday. The employees, who fall under 21 associations of NFADE, have gone on a 48-hour boycott of work.

 Read more:http://www.dnaindia.com/print710.php?cid=1471296

Tue Nov 23 2010 16:02:09
Bhubaneswar, Nov 23 (IANS) All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan halted services in Orissa Tuesday in response to a two-day nationwide strike called by the association of the public sector broadcaster’s employees.

“The regional broadcast has been paralysed across all stations in the state,” Bhubaneswar unit secretary of Association of Radio and Television Employees (ARTEE) Babuli Kumar Pradhan told IANS.The strike was called by the National Federation of Akashvani and Doordarshan Employees (NFADE), an umbrella organisation of 21 service associations, demanding timely payment of wages and withdrawal of the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, 1990.This act placed all Doordarshan and AIR staff, earlier part of the information and broadcasting ministry, under Prasar Bharati.“Prasar Bharati has failed to take care of its employees,” Pradhan said.

Read more: http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/strike-hits-air-doordarshan-operations-in-orissa_100464140.html

Programmes go off air as Radio, DD employees go on strike
2010-11-24 / 02:16:17
By Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, November 23: Even as the 48-hour nationwide boycott observed by the employees of All India Radio and Doordarshan Kendra has started from 9 am today, all programmes went off air on Radio and DD.

The Imphal unit of the striking body claimed that the programmes of radio and doordarshan have been severely affected by the strike.

All employees of air and DDK under the banner of National Federation of Akashvani and Doordarshan Employees (NFADE), an umbrella organisation of 23 service associations, are agitating in connection with their single demand for repeal of Prasar Bharti Act 1990 in view of the “disastrous experience of the past 13 years”.

Read more:http://www.hueiyenlanpao.com/news.php?newsid=3785

Doordarshan employees begin 48-hour demonstration
21 organizations demand repeal of Prasar Bharati Act 1998

DIBRUGARH, Nov 23: Alongwith the rest of the country, the Dibrugarh unit of National Federation of Akashvani and Doordarshan Employees (NFADE), started their 48-hour-long demonstration here today.

The federation includes 21 organizations of Doordarshan and Akashvani, including Akashvani Doordarshan Programme Staff Association and association of radio and television engineering employees.

The organization decided to launch their agitation demanding the repeal of the Prasar Bharati Act 1998 today as it was on this day, 12 years back, that the Act came into force. They are also demonstrating against privatization. The other demand of the employees of Akashvani and Doordarshan is that the contract system should be cancelled. The dharna will conclude on November 25.

Unit secretary of the association of radio and television engineering employees (ARTEE) Shyamanta Phukan said that they have launched the first phase of their agitation. If the government failed to meet their demands, the federation would start their second phase of agitation, which would include a 72-hour-long sit-in from December 13, next, he added.

Read more: http://www.sentinelassam.com/state.php?sec=2&subsec=2&ppr=1&dtP=2010-11-24

AIR, DDK on agitation mode

ITANAGAR, Nov 23: Employees of All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan Kendra (DDK) Itanagar have resolved to cease work from 9 am November 23 to 9 am November 25 in tandem with the nationwide agitation called by the National Federation of Akashvani & Doordarshan Employees (NFADE). The employees are demanding repeal of the Prasar Bharti Act 1990.

Transmission of programmes including news from all AIR stations of the State and Doordarshan Itanagar would remain suspended for the said 48 hours

Read more: http://www.sentinelassam.com/arunachal/story.php?sec=2&subsec=7&id=54736&dtP=2010-11-24&ppr=1#54736

Mangalore: AIR and DD Employees Go off Air in Protest.

Read more:http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=208996

Nothing Is On Air
The 48-hour-long strike will end by 9:00 pm on November 25 | By Yentha
On Nov 24, 2010

Vazhuthacaud, Trivandrum: Thousands of phone calls keep pouring into the AIR office here in the city since their stopping of broadcasting since yesterday morning. Officers are finding it difficult to respond to this growing public queries. The National Federation of Aakashavani and Doordasan Employees (NFADE) have called a 48-hours strike since yesterday, owing to the negligence from the authority towards their demand to repel the Prasar Bharati Act.

“People are very fond of AIR and DD. It is a relationship which we nurtured since our inception in 1936. They are very nostalgic and there are people who cannot live without listening to the signature tune from AIR in the mornings. The strike would have affected them, but it is more important to save these organisations from getting privatised,” said Sali Mathew, State Coordinator of NFADE.

The 48-hours nation-wide strike by the Federation has entered into its final stages. This is for the first time in history the a Public Service Broadcaster is stopping its nation-wide broadcasting. The National Federation has been protesting against the 13-year long Prasar Bharathi Act and, this time too, they want to repeal the act and save DD and AIR from the clutches of privatisation.

All the stations of DD and AIR in the state have stopped telecasting of the programmes since yesterday. The five FM stations in the state including the Ananthapuri FM have gone off the air since Tuesday 9:00 am.

“The Prasar Bharathi Act that came into effect in 1997 had undermined the reputation of DD and Aakasavani. Our organisation has been continuously demanding the repeal of the Prasar Bharathi Act. This protest is such an attempt. If the government disapproves our demands, the Federation will go on for an indefinite strike from December 13,” he said.

“We are not against any kind of developmental movements which would help DD and AIR in the future, but this protests is against the privatisation agenda. We need to safeguard the future of these two organisations, which has played a pivotal role in the development of the country,” opined Jayakrishnan, an employer with AIR.

The 48-hours-long strike will end by tomorrow morning 9:00 am and DD and AIR would start functioning as soon as these employers get back on duty.

Radio, TV goes off air
Ishfaq Mir
Srinagar, Nov 23: For the first time since its inception, transmission of Radio Kashmir Srinagar, Jammu remained off for a day while transmission from Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar was disturbed
following a strike call by National Federation of Doordarshan and All India Radio Employees (NFDAE).
The employees of the Radio Kashmir Srinagar and Jammu, Commercial Broadcasting Service, Yuva Vani Service and Doordarshan observed complete strike and stayed away from work, putting on halt the transmission since Tuesday morning.
November 23, is also observed as Foundation Day of Prasar Bharati. The day also marks commencement of Prasar Bharati Act.
NFDAE, an umbrella organization of 21 service associations of around 45,000 employees, had earlier decided to boycott duties for 48 hours beginning 9 am Tuesday to protest against the “mess created in Prasar Bharati over the last few years.” NFDAE is demanding repeal of Prasar Bharti Act 1990.
From RK Srinagar and Yuva Vani not a single programme went on air from 10.30 am Tuesday. This is for the first time in the history of Radio that such a long breakdown in the transmission has occurred.

.Read more:http://www.risingkashmir.com/news/radio-tv-goes-off-air-3751.aspx

AIR, DD on strike in Karwar

KARWAR: Staff members of All India Radio and Dooradarshan Karwar went on a two-day strike on Tuesday as per the strike call given by National Federation of Akashavani and Dooradarshan employees (NFADE).

NFADE's main demand is that the Prasar Bharati Act be abolished and AIR and DD be taken over by the government. The main purpose of AIR and DD is to reach out and serve people. But with privatization, both departments are reduced to mere commercial organizations and the purpose of setting them up has been defeated. it claims.

NFADE alleged that Prasar Bharati is facing a financial crunch and shortage of staff. It demanded that the Union government intervene and solve the problem.

Read more:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/6977755.cms?prtpage=1

AIR, DDK staff stage protest
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, November 23 2010: As in other parts of the country, employees of All India Radio (AIR) and Doordardhan Kendra, Imphal shut their respective offices and staged a sit-in-protest in front of the AIR office at Palace Compound today demanding repeal of the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990, which they claim is unfriendly and against their interest.

Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the protest demonstration, secretary of Programme Staff Association of AIR Imphal Heisnam Biramani said that the facilities which were earlier enjoyed by the employees have been taken away with the passing of Prasar Bharati Act by the Parliament in 1990.Along with this, all the power have also been transferred to the Prasar Bharati Board which was set up in 1996 .

While promotion and other facilities are being denied to the employees, the required posts which are lying vacant for the last 2/3 years have not been filled as yet, he lamented.
Read more:http://www.e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=15..241110.nov10

SIKKIM: 48-hour strike disrupts DD, AIR Gangtok services

Posted by Barun Roy on November 24th, 2010

Gangtok, Nov 23: The services of Doordarshan Kendra and the All India Radio (AIR) here were interrupted today following a 48-hour strike of the technical staff, demanding the repeal of the Prasar Bharati Act.

The nationwide strike, called by the National Federation of Doordarshan and AIR Employees left 95 per cent of AIR and 60 per cent of Doordarshan centres non functional, an Engineer of DDK, Gangtok informed.

Agitating engineers said, the Prasar Bharati Act was enforced in the year 1997 and since then, the workers have been protesting against the Act stating that it does not stand for the welfare of the employees.

Read more:http://thehimalayanbeacon.com/magazine/2010/11/24/sikkim-48-hour-strike-disrupts-dd-air-gangtok-services-48-hour-strike-disrupts-dd-air-gangtok-services48-hour-strike-disrupts-dd-air-gangtok-services/

Bangalore, 23 November 2010: For the first time in 55 years radio waves fell silent across the State with the All India Radio going off air on Tuesday, when all the employees of AIR went on a strike seeking a repeal of the Prasar Bharathi Act, 1990.

As many as five radio channels, Akashvani Bangalore, Direct-to-Home (DTH), Vividh Bharathi and Amruthavarshini, a musical channel went off the air from 9 am.

In Bangalore, the usually bustling premises of the AIR witnessed a few employees discussing the future of India’s first radio channel that provided infotainment to citizens across the country. From folklore to educational programmes and from classical music to commercial programmes all went silent as the 250 personnel from the AIR station decided to join their counterparts in the 48-hour protest.

A V Vinod Kumar, a Programme Executive believed that this was the last and only option available with the Federations to ensure that streamlining of the workload in the AIR. “We have seen vacant posts for the past 15 years which were to be filled much earlier. The last batch of recruitment was 1994. With fewer and fewer employees it becomes increasingly tough for others to function,” he said.

Read more:http://www.bellevision.com/index.php?action=news_diggest&type=791

AIR, DD go off air in state
November 24th, 2010

Tags: AIR, DD staff protest, protest against Prasar Bharathi

 Chennai.Nov. 23: Carnatic music-lovers and those who listen to news in All India Radio (AIR) were disappointed on Tuesday as they were not able to listen to their favourite programmes as AIR and Doordarshan’s Tamil channel Podhigai were off the air for the first time since their inception as the staff switched off transmitters protesting against the Union government.
Regional channels of Doordarshan including Podhigai (Tamil) and all AIR channels including Chennai A, Chennai B, FM and commercial channels went off the air at 9 am.
Employees of the national broadcasters have grouped under the National Federation of Akashvani and Doordarshan Employees to protest against Prasar Bharathi and the Centre. They have also started ‘Save AIR and DD’ campaign, besides urging the Union government to repeal the Prasar Bharathi Act.
“I joined AIR through UPSC 30 years back with the dream of becoming the director general of the national broadcaster but until today people like me have been denied promotion. After the government brought DD and AIR under Prasar Bharathi, funding for both the national broadcasters has come down,” Mr N. Murugan (Cheyon), assistant station director, AIR, Chennai, said.
He also said some stations do not have heads. “Both Doordarshan and All India Radio run only with contract staff as the Prasar Bharathi board has stopped recruitment. Such is the pathetic condition of DD and AIR,” he added.
“I listen to Carnatic music in Chennai A and FM Gold daily. Today, when I was listening to Carnatic music from 8.45 am in Chennai A, the broadcast got disrupted suddenly at 9 am and after that there was silence. When I tuned into FM Gold in the afternoon, that was also off the air,” 86-year-old R. Sampath, who has been listening to Carnatic music for the past 60 years, said.

Read more:http://www.deccanchronicle.com/chennai/air-dd-go-air-state-027

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