New Delhi: The media outcry over the Broadcasting Bill has made the Centre sit up and take notice. The UPA Government has decided not to table the controversial Bill in the Monsoon Session of Parliament in view of the growing media opposition to the same.
The contentious Bill, which was supposed to come up before Parliament during the Monsoon Session, was missing from among the Bills listed for the House Session, which begins on August 10. The Monsoon Session of Parliament will run for 36 days.
When asked, Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said the process of consultation over the Bill was still on.
There have been several rounds of consultations over the Bill at the secretarial level of I&B Ministry over the past few days. I&B Ministry officials have also held discussions with various channel heads and representatives of broadcasting units on the specific clauses of the Bill.
The Bill has come under criticism from the media as they fear that it could curtail the freedom of press. According to the Bill, all TV channels will have to abide by the proposed content code.
As per the Bill, a content auditor will be appointed for each channel and he or she will have the final say on the airing of programmes.
The Bill also proposes to put sting operations by news channels under the scanner. The Bill requires news channels to inform the person on whom a sting is to be conducted before doing so.
On his part, Dasmunshi has said that the Bill will not mean any infringement on the freedom of expression of the channels. He, however, said he has reservation about sting operations and only those sting operations which are carried out for public good will be allowed.
The broadcasters had earlier said that the time of 15 days given to them by the government to give their feedback on the draft Bill and Content Code was not enough and asked for extension.
Private media houses had also raised concerns over the government's proposal on cross-media restrictions, self-regulation guidelines and content auditor.
Under the circumstances, it appears a tough prospect for Dasmunshi to give the Bill a final shape without the support of the broadcasters.
The Union I&B Minister now plans to meet representatives of the broadcasters later this month and try and reach some consensus. If this doesn't happen, the Bill will go to the Cabinet for a final decision on its status.
I&B officials had earlier this week ruled out any further delay in introducing the Bill.
"The government will definitely introduce the Broadcasting Bill in the Monsoon session. There will not be any extension to this. The debate on the Bill has already been going around for last 10 years," they added.
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