Calling the directives of the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) contempt of the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990, the board of the public broadcaster has put aside all the instructions it has given.

The board did not accede to the ministry’s proposal to hire two journalists working for private media houses. It said the ministry had been pressuring the board to hire the two journalists but the problem was that the compensation they asked for ranged from Rs 7.5 million to Rs 10 million a year. “The highest compensation paid to contractuals in Prasar Bharati is ...