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EC shadow over DD's news channel

By Anita Joshua

NEW DELHI OCT. 21. The Election Commission may well spoil the Government's plan for a round-the-clock Doordarshan news channel ahead of the coming Assembly elections in four States. Though a final view is yet to be taken, the Commission has dashed off letters to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Prasar Bharati seeking clarifications on various counts about DD News that is due to be launched on November 3. Having received complaints from various quarters — political parties and stake-holders including producers with programmes on DD's Metro channel — questioning the need for a news channel to be launched from the Government's stables at this juncture, the Commission has forwarded them to the Ministry and Prasar Bharati; seeking ``facts and comments'' on the issues raised by the complainants.

Ministry sources confirmed that two such letters had been received from the Commission in the past few days. Some of the complainants expressed apprehensions that DD News might be used as propaganda machinery by the Government in the polls. On the plea that DD News was the baby of Prasar Bharati, an autonomous body, and that the Government had nothing to do with it — except for controlling the purse strings — the Ministry has decided to confine itself to forwarding the responses of the public broadcaster to the Commission.

Apart from pointing out that DD News had been in the making since the middle of the year and had nothing to do with the elections, Prasar Bharati will also draw the Commission's attention to the fact that some of the complainants had programmes on DD Metro and were, therefore, opposed to its closure to make way for the news channel. As for approaching the Cabinet for approval, the explanation is that its approval was needed because of the expenses involved.

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