Whatever semblance of autonomy the Prasar Bharati might have enjoyed in the past is also slipping away under the Modi government. In mid-May, before the government completed one year in office, the Prasar Bharati sent a written order to the All India Radio, asking it to promote the ruling dispensation’s success stories in all languages starting May 15.



The circular, dated May 14, said: “The present Union Government is about to complete its one year in office. RNUs [Regional News Units], in this regard, have been directed to send stories to GNR [General News Room] in audio capsule form on the policy programmes and various initiatives of the Government.”



It was in 1990 that Prasar Bharati was established through an Act of Parliament. It came into existence in 1997. A statutory autonomous body comprising Doordarshan and the All India Radio, the Prasar Bharati was meant to provide these public broadcasters the editorial freedom that they didn’t have earlier when they were media units of the information and broadcasting Ministry.



It hasn’t always turned out that way.



On May 29, the information and broadcasting ministry appointed Veena Jain, an officer of the Indian Information Service cadre, as director general (news) in Doordarshan and directed her to report directly to the ministry “for all purposes”. The unusual move was seen with suspicion by many, given that all dispensations try to control Doordarshan and All India Radio through IIS officials who fall under the information and broadcasting ministry.



First of its kind



Maintaining that the May 14 written order was first of its kind, a senior official in Prasar Bharati said: “Never in the past did Prasar Bharati, which is supposed to run DD and AIR in an autonomous manner, tried to force them to surrender before the government.”



The circular to All India Radio was more than a general instruction on the coverage of government schemes. Along with it, the Prasar Bharati also sent a detailed schedule of various programmes to be covered by AIR’s Regional News Units in different parts of the country.



“E-in-Cs [Editors-in-Charge] and Compiling Editors during the Morning, Day and Evening shifts are directed to incorporate these stories in the bulletin from 15th May onwards till 31st May, 2015,” the letter said. “Language Units should also use the stories in their bulletins.”



Prasar Bharati did not respond to an email questionnaire from Scroll.in.



Senior officials in the Prasar Bharati maintained that the circular undermined the autonomy that the Prasar Bharati Act of 1990 sought to provide. “The appointment of Dr A Surya Prakash as chairperson of Prasar Bharati was the first major indication of the Modi government’s intention to crush the autonomy of Prasar Bharati,” said one official.



A Surya Prakash, a right-wing columnist and a fellow of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-linked think-tank Vivekananda International Foundation, was appointed of Prasar Bharati chairperson in October 2014.



