MUMBAI: Noted right-wing columnist MV Kamath will be the next chairman of the Prasar Bharati Board.
A three-member committee headed by vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat has recommended Kamath's name for the post, information and broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj has been quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.
PTI quoted Swaraj as saying Kamath has given his verbal consent for the post to secretary, I&B, Pawan Chopra.
The Prasar Bharati chairman's post had been lying vacant ever since Prof UR Rao, a former head of the country's premier space research institute, ISRO, quit last year citing personal reasons.
When Rao quit in August last year, media speculation had pointed to veteran journalist and seniormost member of the Prasar Bharati board BG Verghese as a possible candidate. Kamath is the third chairman of the board after the late Nikhil Chakravarthy and Rao.
Kamath, who was made a member of the board last year, has worked in several news organisations and was editor of the now defunct Illustrated Weekly.
The three-member committee comprises the Press Council chairman and a government nominee, besides the vice-president.