BJP’s Shaina NC says Prasar Bharati board will ‘organise’ DD, AIR

New Delhi, July 7 (IANS) Fashion designer-turned-BJP spokesperson Shaina NC is among the four new members who have been nominated to the board of Prasar Bharati that controls Doordarshan and All India Radio.

The other three are music composer Salim Merchant, Sanjay Gupta, who is the editor-in-chief of a Hindi daily and Alok Agarwal.

Speaking to IANS, Shaina NC said a thrust will be on the All India Radio, “I think our endeavoor will be to completely organise Doordarshan and Prasar Bharti… and particularly mediums like All India Radio, which has tremendous connectivity and a lot of goodwill. I think that will be maximised to the best of our ability.”

The Board plays a crucial role in the general administrative functioning of the state broadcaster. Prasar Bharati itself is an autonomous body. The board’s 9 out of 13 posts have been lying vacant.

Recently, the state broadcaster made it to headlines after its spat with news agency PTI. Prasar Bharati had shot off a letter threatening to end its “relationship” over the alleged “anti national” reportage by the news agency, a charge refuted by PTI’s former Editor-in-Chief M.K. Razdan in an interview to a website, calling it “preposterous”.

Asked about whether deicding the fate of the “relationship” between the broadcaster and the news agency will be on the table, she said, “I am sure there will be lots of issues that will come up. It is for the board and the majority of the board that matters.” She added it won’t be right for her to “predetermine” at this juncture.

Earlier, in her tweet, the BJP leader also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar.

–IANS

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