By a staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, Nov 3: There is something seriously amiss with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and Prasar Bharati — either they do not know, like many in Delhi, that there is a part of India called the Northeast, or that they are still unable to change the mindset of yore of the powers-that-be in Delhi of treating the Northeast as the country’s hinterland. Otherwise there is no way one can explain why these two Government of India entities should let the Doordarshan and the All India Radio lie in a shambles in the Northeast for years, making them to gasp for life with acute shortage of staff at the senior levels. Be it the Doordarshan Kendra and All India Radio of Guwahati, Shillong, Itanagar, Agartala, Aizawl or Imphal, it is the same pathetic story of acute shortage of staff and officers. The staff and officers’ associations of both Doordarshan and AIR of the Northeast have been repeatedly drawing attention of the Ministry and the Prasar Bharati to this serious lapse in providing quality service to the listeners and viewers of the region but to no avail. And today the situation has come to such a pass that serious apprehensions are being expressed in circles concerned if the Ministry and the Prasar Bharati had plans up their sleeve to altogether wind up Doordarshan and AIR services from the Notheast!
But the shortage of the staff and officers crippling the two broadcasters in the region had not come about suddenly, it is almost ages since the shortage started with the expansion of the network and opening of more DD kendras and AIR stations. And from day one the Ministry and the Prasar Bharati have been kept informed of the increasing shortage of staff.
Believe it or not, as of today, only the Director is running the Doordarshan show in Aizwal! Out of the sanctioned strength of one Deputy Director, one Executive Producer, two Assistant Station Directors and all posts of programme executives, none has been filled up since the past several years. Likewise, the post of Director, one post of Deputy Director (Programme), one post of Executive Producer, one post of Assistant Station Director and two posts of programme executives are vacant in the Shillong Kendra of the Doordarshan. It is same story in the Kohima Kendra too. The Kendra should have a sanctioned strength of one Director, one Deputy Director (Programme), one post of Executive Producer and two posts of Assistant Station Directors. But none has been filled up so far. Worse still, the Kohima Kendra has not been sanctioned even a single Group C programme post, considered the lifeline of a Doordarshan Kendra. In Imphal too, one post of Director, one post of Deputy Director (Programme), one post of Executive Producer and two posts of Assistant Station Directors are lying vacant since the past several years. In Itanagar, the show is being run without the Director, the Deputy Director (Programme) and any Executive Producer. In Silchar, the Director’s post has not even been sanctioned while those of Deputy Director (Programme), Executive Producer, Assistant Station Director and programme executives have been kept vacant. In Tura Kendra too, there is no sanctioned post of Director, while the posts of Deputy Director (Programme), Executive Producer and Assistant Executive Producers have been kept vacant.
Thus, a quick recap of the scenario reveals a sordid tale of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and Prasar Bharati’s callous attitude towards the Northeast: of the total eight sanctioned posts of Director for the region, six are vacant; of the sanctioned 10 posts of Deputy Director (Programme), none has been filled up; the lone sanctioned post of Chief Producer too has been kept vacant; of the 12 posts of Executive Producers, none has been filled up; of the 22 posts of Assistant Station Directors, 13 have been kept vacant; while of the 52 posts of programme executives, as many as 32 have been kept vacant.
No wonder that the quality of Doordarshan’s service has been deteriorating by the day amid serious apprehensions among the listeners and viewers of the Northeast as to whether the Centre has been contemplating to wind up the services in the region altogether! THE SENTINEL
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