Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati is facing acute staff crunch, but the Finance Ministry is sleeping for the past four months over Information and Broadcasting Ministry’s proposal to give sanction for recruitment of at least 3,500 staff on an urgent basis. Apart from the delay on the part of Finance Ministry, the blame game is also going on between the I&B Ministry and the Prasar Bharati.

The I&B Ministry accuses the public broadcaster of not having any recruitment policy for over a decade and making ad hoc appointments. Prasar Bharati refutes this contention by claiming that the Ministry is sitting over its proposal to set up a Recruitment Board for the past one year.

The problem could get only worse in months to come as about 40 per cent staff of AIR will reach superannuation this year and contracts of many of the staff supplied by public sector company BECIL to the Prasar Bharati will end this year.

In the entire controversy, employees are the worst sufferers. In the absence of any proper promotion policy, many of them are forced to work in the same post they had joined 15-18 years ago. “Prasar Bharati is facing an acute shortage of staff. At least 18,000 more employees are needed to properly run the public broadcaster, and 3,500 posts needed to be filled up for maintenance of transponders and other equipment.

However, the Expenditure Department of the Finance Ministry is sitting over the proposal to create these posts for the past over four months,” Ministry sources told The Pioneer. The problem has been further compounded as the average age of permanent employees in AIR is about 55 years and during the past 15 years adequate trained staff has not been employed.

On the other hand, the Prasar Bharati sources said that after much leg work and consulting various stakeholders for one year, the Board sent the Ministry a proposal for setting up a Recruitment Board in March last year. “But I&B Ministry has not moved a single step on this front yet,” sources said.

“The Prasar Bharati is, at present, working without a CEO for over one year. BS Lalli, who was first suspended for his role in CWG scam, retired in December and the post of member personnel is also vacant for the few months,” they pointed out and said that these crucial appointments must be made immediately to streamline the system.

Moreover, Prasar Bharati sources accused the Ministry of controlling the recruitment process through Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited, as it can only hire people through BECIL.

Terming BECIL “a pocket borough” of the Ministry, they pointed out that though the PSU was formed in 1995 to supply technical staff, it is now even supplying anchors and programming staff and non-technical subordinate staff. “There is no system by which Prasar Bharati can check the quality or skills of employees supplied by BECIL,” they pointed out and said that once supplied the Prasar Bharati has to continue with them till their term expires. Their complaint is justified in view of the judgement of CAT which quashed the employment of 25 anchors.

        Trust deficit
 .Four months on, Finance Ministry yet to act on I&B Ministry's proposal to give sanction for recruitment of 3,500 staff.
 .I&B Ministry and Prasar Bharati too at loggerheads. The Ministry accuses the broadcaster of not having any recruitment policy for over a decade
.Prasar Bharati refutes it by claiming that the Ministry is sitting over its proposal to set up a Recruitment Board for the past one year
.In the entire controversy, PB employees are the worst sufferers
 

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