NEW DELHI: The financial woes of the Prasar Bharati continue well into the current financial year. For the nine months ended 31 December 2012, the pubcaster has seen a Rs 3.23 billion drop in revenues despite having simulcast shows from private satellite broadcasters like Star Plus? Aamir Khan-anchored Satyamev Jayate and Zee TV?s Ramayan. The Olympics in July also did not help shore up the revenues this fiscal.

Prasar Bharati has reported a revenue of Rs 10.86 billion for the first nine months of the fiscal, down from Rs 14.09 billion a year ago.

The loss, however, has narrowed as the pubcaster has drastically reduced its costs. The expenditure incurred by Prasar Bharati for the nine months ended December 2012 was Rs 23.95 billion compared to Rs 33.40 billion a year ago.
 
The Government had in September last year approved a Financial Restructuring package for Prasar Bharati comprising 100 per cent salary support for five years, waiver of accumulated government debt, space and spectrum charges etc.

The increase in expenditure during the past few years has been primarily due to the implementation of various recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission.

NEW DELHI: Even as the grants-in-aid for Prasar Bharati has been raised from the revised estimates of Rs 17.29 billion to Rs 21.80 billion, there is no separate investment by the Government in the pubcaster.

In the Budget of 2012-13, the government had made investments of Rs 2.83 billion according to revised estimates, though the budget for the year had set aside a provision of Rs 4.01 billion. However, there is provision for investment of Rs 2 billion from Internal and Extra-budgetary resources for Prasar Bharati.

An explanatory memorandum says that the grants-in-aid is towards meeting the salary and salary related expenditure.

Prasar Bharati sources told indiantelevision.com said this had been done to meet the extra expenditure on salaries which has fallen on the shoulders of the Government since all Prasar Bharati employees who were in employment as on 5 October 2007 have been given deemed deputation status.

Contrary to expectations, the government has not set aside any amount specifically for marking the centenary of Indian cinema or digitisation of the cable television sector.

However, the allocation under ?Secretariat-Social services? covering centenary celebrations and digitisation has gone up to Rs 1.44 billion from the revised estimates of Rs 1.03 billion.

The total budget of the I&B Ministry has been raised to Rs 30.36 billion for 2013-14 against the revised budget of Rs 26.93 billion (against the initial allocation of Rs 27.37 billion) for the previous year.

An explanatory note says that Secretariat-Social services also covers expenses on development of community radio, development support to the north-east as well as Jammu and Kashmir and ?other identified areas?, promotion of Indian cinema through film festivals and film markets in India and abroad, production of films and documentaries in various Indian languages, National Film Heritage Mission, anti-piracy initiatives, the proposed National Centre for Animation and Gaming, and automation of broadcast services.

The allocation under the Film Sector has, unlike last year, been increased to Rs 1.17 billion for 2013-14. Last year, the budget for the film sector was Rs 841.1 million, though the revised estimates had put this figure at Rs 888.8 million. There is an additional outlay of Rs 70.4 million towards certification of cinematographic films.

For the fourth year in a row, the government has not announced any investment in the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).

The allocation for Press Information Services which includes grants to the Press Council of India has been marginally increased to Rs 613.6 from last year?s revised estimates of Rs 574.3 million to meet the expenses for the Press Information Bureau, the Press Council of India, and to the Press Trust of India for running the non-aligned countries news pool.

The allocation to the Electronic Media Monitoring Centre has been marginally increased to Rs 49.4 million from the revised estimates of Rs 44.6 million in 2012-13. The EMMC was set up for monitoring television and radio channels for violation of programme and advertising codes.

The allocation for advertising and visual publicity has been raised significantly to Rs 2.39 billion against the revised estimates of Rs 1.58 billion for 2012-13 following the increase in the advertising rates of the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) and the decision to grant advertisements to community radio in addition to print and electronic media.

There is a major increase in the lump sum provision for projects/schemes for development of North-eastern areas including Sikkim from Rs 184.5 million in 2012-13 to Rs 905 million for 2013-14.

NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry wants the post of Member (Finance) in Prasar Bharati to be filled as expeditiously as possible, if the pubcaster has to embark on a path of change in financial and administrative reforms.

The Ministry has therefore written to the Union Cabinet seeking its approval in this regard, since this post has been vacant for over three months since the last incumbent A K Jain was transferred.

The Group of Ministers (GoM) on Prasar Bharati had recommended that the Board of Prasar Bharati should have younger members.

The GoM had suggested that the upper age limit for Member (Finance) should be brought down from 60 to 55 years. The Cabinet had asked the ministry to reconsider the GoM?s recommendation.

Ministry sources said the direction given by the GoM for financial restructuring of the pubcaster could not be implemented unless there was a specialised personnel for handling finances.

NEW DELHI: The Sam Pitroda Committee set up to review the working of Prasar Bharati on Tuesday set up eleven groups to work on various issues including the pubcaster?s relationship with the government.

The groups were set up after the first meeting of the committee. Pitroda later told reporters that the groups would report in a maximum of two months and the committee hoped to wind up its work in four to six months.

The groups are on Prasar Bharati-Government relationship; Technology and choices; Business Development; Finance; Organisation and Human Resources; Programming and Content; Archiving; Global Initiatives; Social media (for delivery platforms); Regulatory Mechanisms; and Competitive Analysis.

Pitroda expressed hope that the recommendations of the committee will be implemented. He was commenting on an observation by a journalist that recommendations of previous committees had not been implemented.

He said the group on archiving will study digitisation, and also monetising the archival material. The group on organisation and human resources would consider filling vacant posts and reduce dependence on casual employees.

He said social media had become a very important tool for spreading messages about Prasar Bharati and this will form an important aspect.

The group on competitive analysis would work on studying how public service broadcasters are managed in other countries.

Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations is the Chairman of the Expert Committee set up by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry for reviewing the institutional frame work of Prasar Bharati.

The seven-member Committee includes retired Prasar Bharati CEO Sircar, IAS officer Asha Swaroop, who had earlier served as secretary in the I&B Ministry; B K Gairola, Mission Director (e-Governance); Shekhar Kapur, a member of the National Innovation Council; Professor M P Gupta of IIT Delhi; and Jitendra Shankar Mathur, additional secretary and nominated member on the Prasar Bharati Board.

The timing of setting up the Committee coincides with the recent announcements of fresh financial packages to the pubcaster, and the Government undertaking to pay salaries of employees who had been employed with the pubcaster as on 5 October 2007.

The Committee will review the status of implementation of the recommendations made by various committees that have undertaken study of Prasar Bharati, like the Sengupta committee of 1996 and the Bakshi and Narayanamurthy committees of 2000 and suggest a road map ahead for enhancing the reach and potential of Prasar Bharati.

It can suggest measures to sustain, strengthen and amplify Prasar Bharati`s role as a Public Broadcaster with special reference to its relationship with Government in the emerging context.

It will also suggest measures to digitize the archival material in the possession of Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR) including material from Independence Movement era, and develop enabling infrastructure, in the form of data digitalization systems, data centers and networks etc.

The Committee will suggest ways of using the new media to deliver digital content - both in broadcast mode (DTH) and in a demand-based mode (Free on social media like You-Tube, and on payment through IPTV).

It will work out a strategy for creating a network of domestic and overseas business partners for ensuring wider reach to a worldwide audience including creating an exclusive overseas service.

NEW DELHI: Senior media person Pranjal Sharma has been appointed Advisor in Prasar Bharati to devise strategies on ?News Media and Content Strategy?.

Sharma was until recently Executive Editor at Bloomberg UTV, which he had helped set up in India.

Combining media experience of around 21 years, Sharma is expected to help the pubcaster to foray into new fields in media.

DD sources said he will also look at the programme strategy of both All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan.

NEW DELHI: A sum of just over Rs 135.53 million is owed by different departments or ministries to Prasar Bharati.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said that "recovery of outstanding dues is being pursued vigorously".

In a reply in Parliament, Tewari said that the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) of his own Ministry owes an amount of just over Rs 98.43 million to the pubcaster.

The Health and Family Welfare Ministry owes around Rs 7.7 million, while Rural Development Ministry owes around Rs 17.7 million.

The Labour and Employment Ministry owes a sum of just over Rs 11.71 million.

Prasar Bharati will receive these amounts for carrying advertisements about the flagship programmes of the present government over Doordarshan and All India Radio.