Broadcast bill to be delayed

The controversial Broadcast Services Regulation Bill is unlikely to be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament with the government set to hold talks with media barons to address their apprehensions on the alleged "draconian" provisions in the proposed legislation.

According to an official source, Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi will meet top representatives from the media and entertainment industry early next month to take stock of their views on the measure.

"The Minister will be meeting the industry representatives in early August to address their concerns and apprehensions," the source said, adding that this would delay the introduction of the Bill in Parliament, earlier expected to be tabled in the coming monsoon session.

The government has already initiated steps to take stock of the industry's views on the subject after being under attack for including proposals in the Bill that could give it overarching powers to control and manage the media.

Information and Broadcasting Secretary S K Arora has had a series of meetings with the industry representatives and assured them that they would be consulted before the Bill is presented in the Parliament.

The I&B Secretary said the intention of the draft Bill was to provide legislative backing to executive decisions taken by the government in recent times. This was required as most of the executive decisions had been challenged in court and the government had been asked to show legislative sanction for its actions, he added.

Arora said creation of an independent Broadcast Regulatory Authority of India, which would take over the regulatory functions, was also one of the purposes. This was being done to wean the government away from the job of regulating the industry.

Another objective of the bill was to subsume the existing Cable Network Regulations Act that governs the cable industry, he said.

The Secretary clarified that the content regulation rules, which were being drafted separately, were not part of the broadcast legislation.

He said all stakeholders would be consulted, as the government's intention was to encourage self-regulation with regard to content.

Arora also addressed the industry's concerns on restrictions on cross-media ownership and said the government will consider their inputs in this regard.