Broadcasting static

The information and broadcasting ministry has been sitting on its rump ever since the UPA government came to power

Anjan Mitra Delhi

A joke that has been doing the rounds in the information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry, housed in Shastri Bhawan, says that either I&B Minister Jaipal Reddy is unhappy with his portfolio or his bureaucrats wield more power than he does.

It may be termed risqué, but it does have a ring of truth. After six months of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in Delhi, the broadcast and entertainment industry, which held high hopes of Reddy and his team, is left with a feeling that inaction is this ministry's middle name.

Not that the ministry does not have anything to do — there are a whole lot of issues pending a government decision. But the slow pace of the ministry's activity highlights one inescapable fact: it is inadequate at dealing with complex issues.

Take the FM radio issue and its second phase of privatisation. It has been several months since the sector regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), submitted to the government its recommendations on important aspects of the industry, including liberalising the financing of such ventures in the private sector.

Until the recently-concluded Parliament session, Reddy was informing fellow Parliamentarians that the government was studying the TRAI proposals and that no timeframe could be given for accepting or rejecting the recommendations. This, despite the fact that the TRAI and the ministry have both exchanged views. Clarifications were, in fact, issued by the regulator.

In response to government's observation of its recommendations, the TRAI gave way on some points but stood its ground on others. For instance, it stoutly defended its recommendation on the migration to revenue sharing (four per cent) from the existing license fee regime, despite the government's objection on the ground that the revenue earnings of a radio operator were expected to be in the form of advertising revenues, which are un-metered, unlike the earnings of a telecom service provider. Pointing out that decline in revenue for the government cannot be the only criterion for not accepting a revenue share regime, the TRAI countered, "The objective of a license share of four per cent is to bring down the burden on the industry."

After this, the government has gone quiet on the issue, except occasional noises that there is a potential in the country for 400 FM and community radio stations. Then, there is the burning issue of the Tatas and their Rs 1,600-crore Direct-To-Home (DTH) venture with the Rupert Murdoch-controlled Star. The I&B ministry is suddenly revisiting all aspects of the venture, even though it has been cleared by other ministries like home and finance.

It is ironic that a foreign collaboration that involves the company of the chairperson of the investment commission, Ratan Tata, has been stalled at various levels of the government. The investment commission under Tata, head of the vastly-diversified Tata Group, is to strategise ways to increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow into the country so that targets can be met. On everyone's mind is the fact that neighbouring China, with an equally huge population and probably more centralised clearance processes, has been beating India for several years as the favourite destination in Asia for multinationals.

Does Tata have the moral right to woo foreign investment when the I&B ministry has successfully stalled for months now an 80:20 foreign collaboration between Tata and Star? The ministry's officials feel that it needs to be seen whether the joint venture can raise money.

It is another matter that in private Reddy has expressed his helplessness on certain issues. The question is: Who's calling the shots at the ministry — the minister or some bureaucrats? Rivals like Zee Telefilms and Doordarshan would love to see another DTH platform get delayed as long as possible, but dragging a case till it gives up its ghost gives rise to questionable motives and holds up a pathetic picture to international actors. This is notwithstanding the fact that every sovereign country has a right to frame its own laws.

What has kept the ministry so busy? Munshi Premchand's anniversary celebrations and some bloomer-ridden CDs brought out on the works of Mahatma Gandhi? Reddy recently summoned journalists at short notice to explain his position, but had no word on the future course of action. Or inaction, as the case may be.

The writer is executive editor, indiantelevision.com