December 03, 2011 20:16 IST

The information and broadcasting ministry has issued a stern advisory to all TV channels against telecasting programmes promoting superstitions, occult practices and blind belief, warning that punitive action will be taken in case of any violations.

The advisory comes in the wake of the civil society and many media critics expressing concern over a flood of such programmes of late -- especially on Hindi and regional language channels -- to garner TRPs.

The ministry decided to halt such programmes since they promote irrationality and hinder the development of a scientific temperament, particularly swaying young minds with false claims of the support of scientific evidence, the officials said.

They said the electronic media monitoring centre of the ministry has been asked to report any violations of the advisory to enable the issue of show-cause notices to the erring TV channels. This is the first missive to the electronic media to act responsibly.

Officials said the ministry is also examining the anti-smoking directive -- issued by the health ministry without consulting it -- on the compulsory display of a short message against tobacco products while showing smoking scenes in films and TV programmes.

Following the representation of filmmakers led by Mahesh Bhatt and Javed Akhtar to Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni to protest the guidelines of the health ministry, officials said it has been conveyed that its anti-smoking notification would not be implemented unless the grievances of Bollywood are met.

In fact, the I&B ministry's haste in spurning the health ministry's notification can be gauged by the fact that Ambika sent out a two-page missive to Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad at 10 pm, immediately after the filmmakers met her, stressing that his ministry can't force the notification until it meets the reservations of the industry.

The health ministry officials, however, say Soni is meddling into the jurisdiction of their ministry since the notification was issued on November 14 after year-long discussions involving all stakeholders, including representatives from I&B ministry.