NEW DELHI: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry will pursue with the Finance Ministry issues relating to greater inflow of foreign direct investment, incentives to the cable TV industry, and concessions like customs exemption for set top boxes as part of its attempt to push digitisation by December 2014.

I&B Secretary Uday Kumar Varma said the government was also concerned about the shortage of digital STBs and was examining ways to increase indigenous production if the sunset dates had to be met.

He reiterated that the Government stood committed to phasing out analogue by December 2014 from the entire country as this would help the cable and broadcasting industry and also the viewer.
 
Addressing a meet of CEOs of Broadcasting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), he said the government was working towards a programme for capacity building for the cable operators and would introduce orientation programmes for this.

At the same time, the Government asked to the industry to come forward with ways to create public awareness about the benefits of digitisation. He said the industry and the Government would have to work together on this.

He said he failed to understand why the industry was not coming forward to discuss the spectrum issues with the government.

Varma said the whole aim should be to visualise how the industry wanted to see the TV industry 10 years from now.

He said no policy could be carried forward by the government without taking the industry with it, and therefore it was important that the two should work together.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman JS Sarma referred to the plans of the regulator to increase the reach of broadband. He also said Trai would open regional offices in different parts of the country to help the broadcast and telecom industries. He said the regulator had been working in close coordination with the government on digitisation.

CII Media and Entertainment Committee chairman Amit Khanna referred to meetings held with Sarma and said this process would continue. He said that the CII and the entertainment industry would also meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee early next month in connection with its wish list for the entertainment sector.

He also announced that the PriceWaterhouse Coopers was preparing a vision document on the radio industry in the country.

He said the CII would be organising a one-day meet on content in cinema and TV in Mumbai in March.

The meet was attended by the heads of various television channels, apart from members of civil rights groups and research bodies.

NEW DELHI: Even as the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) described the decision of non-renewal of licence in the cast of five or more violations as arbitrary and unconstitutional, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry expressed surprise at the strong reaction.

Ministry sources said that the Government?s view in this regard had been conveyed to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India last year and it had also been placed on the Ministry?s website. Simultaneously, Trai had also placed these views on its website.

Thus Ministry sources wondered why none of the stakeholders had made known their objections, although wide publicity had been given to the Government?s views on Trai?s recommendations.

Furthermore, the sources told indiantelevision.com that the purpose of the proposal had been completely misunderstood.

Under the Guidelines prior to the Cabinet?s approval of the amendments, any channel could be asked to go off air up to a maximum of 30 days on first violation, and 60 days on second violation, and face cancellation of licence on third violation. The sources said the Government had never acted harshly and no channel had been asked to go off air for more than 15 days.

As the first decade of private satellite television had come to an end and the channels were to seek renewal, the Ministry had asked Trai to revisit the Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines. The approval by the Cabinet said the Ministry may or can refuse to renew the licence of a channel which had been found guilty on five or more occasions of violations of the Programme and Advertisement Codes.

Meanwhile, the NBA said there "cannot be any power vested in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to cancel" or "refuse to renew" a broadcaster?s licence on their subjective view that a television channel has violated the terms of the Uplinking and Downlinking Guidelines or the provisions of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act 1995.

Describing the Government?s amendments to the Guidelines as "a direct assault on the self regulatory regime put in place by broadcasters", the NBA which is the apex body of TV news broadcasters said there is no such requirement under the existing Uplinking & Downlinking Guidelines for renewal .

The self-regulatory regime had, in fact, been encouraged and recognised by the Ministry. The proposed step, therefore, "is wholly retrograde and places broadcasters at the arbitrary mercy of the Ministry; and is therefore a violation of the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression and will not be countenanced by the NBA".

In a statement, NBA noted with regret that the Cabinet had ?purportedly approved certain modifications? to the Guidelines including one which provides for non-renewal of licence of a TV channel found "guilty" of violating the terms and conditions of permission including violations of the Programme and Advertisement Codes on five or more occasions.

The statement noted that proceedings following the Show Cause notices issued by the Ministry to broadcasters on various counts have ?been conducted internally within the Ministry and never has been in the nature of adjudication.?

"Be that as it may, certain other broadcasters have complied with directions issued by the Ministry for running apologies and even shutting down their channels for certain periods of time. To now retrospectively use such proceedings to deny permission to broadcast for future is wholly arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional".

Placing on record its ?deep anguish to such amendments to the Guidelines, the NBA urged the Government to urgently review the "regressive decision which would be anathema to the constitutional framework of our country."

NBA is seeking an urgent appointment with Minister Ambika Soni to explain and clarify the Association?s concerns, the statement said.