New I&B Ministry guidelines

The Union Government’s revised guidelines for uplinking and downlinking of satellite TV channels, aimed at making India a ‘teleport hub for other countries’, include one new section that is bound to divide opinion — the clause that states TV channels must devote at least 30 minutes every day to content designed to promote ‘public service and national interest’. The Cabinet has given its approval to guidelines that have made it obligatory for TV channels to telecast such content on eight themes — education and spread of literacy; agriculture and rural development; health and family welfare; science and technology; welfare of women; welfare of the weaker sections of society; protection of environment and of cultural heritage; and national integration. The rationale for the move, according to the policy document, lies in the fact that ‘airwaves/frequencies are public property and need to be used in the best interest of the society’.

Though the guidelines came into effect on November 9, the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has said that TV channels would be given time to conceptualise and create content on the eight themes. The guidelines are binding on all channels except foreign ones and those devoted to wildlife and live telecast of sports. According to the ministry, in case any channel is found to be non-compliant, an explanation will be sought from it.

On the face of it, there seems little to fault in the choice of the eight themes or even the advisory — after all, the idea of promoting ‘national interest’ is unlikely to cause dissent. However, the real problem lies in the interpretation of the term ‘national interest’ — what is it, and who would be the final arbiter in deciding what this abstract construct means? For instance, each political party would claim to be working to secure the ‘national interest’, but their ideologies and methods would vary greatly. Obviously, the ruling dispensation will be the final arbiter of this loaded term and the contentious debate over it, and this could lead to punitive action against channels. On the flip side, more pliable channels could turn this 30-minute programming into advertorials. The ministry, thus, must display flexibility and let it be just an advisory with no punitive action attached.