MUMBAI: The death of minister of rural development Gopinath Munde a few days after him taking charge of the office shook not just the nation but the government as well. Taking note from the incident, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry (MIB) has issued an advisory to channels regarding depiction of rash, negligent or dangerous driving scenes/images.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MRTH) has highlighted that depicting such incidences on programmes, news features and serials could be against public interest. Therefore, the MIB has advised TV channels that on the request of the MRTH such images or scenes may not be usually portrayed on TV channels.

In the case where such a depiction becomes unavoidable, the scenes/images must be accompanied by messages such as ‘over speeding kills’ , ‘driving two-wheeler without helmet is dangerous and illegal’ and ‘driving four-wheeler without seat belt is dangerous and illegal’.

The MIB urges all TV channels including Doordarshan to be extremely cautious with regard to such situations. Letters have been sent to the News Broadcasters Association, Broadcast Contents Complaints Council, The Advertising Standards council of lndia, All TV Channels and Doordarshan.

The advisory is applicable to print publications as well.