Industry wants open discussion on fresh Broadcast Bill draft
MIB) to hold an open and transparent consultation process before it comes out with a fresh draft of the Broadcast Services Regulation Bill.
The MIB has faced criticism for the opaque manner in which it circulated the second draft of the Broadcast Bill with certain stakeholders at the end July. The first draft of the bill, which was released in November 2023, was put up for public consultation; however, the comments were not made public.
«We expect the MIB to hold a transparent consultation process and take the views of all the stakeholders, including bodies like the Editors Guild of India, before coming out with the fresh draft,» said Anant Nath, the president of the non-profit organisation of journalists.
He also said that the Broadcast Bill should look to strengthen the self-regulatory mechanism rather than empower the government and bureaucracy to take decisions on pulling down content or taking channels off air.
«One possible option can be to strengthen a body like the Press Council of India, which is answerable to parliament, rather than giving powers to the Broadcast Advisory Council, which only comprises government officials,» Nath added.
Sources said the second draft of the bill has been kept on the backburner, with the ministry asking stakeholders to return the watermarked copies of the bill that were shared with them recently.
In a statement on Monday, the MIB said that a fresh draft will be published after detailed consultations with stakeholders. It has solicited comments and suggestions from
