No Censorship for Media said Ambika Soni at PHD Chamber

The government is completely against any control of the media or censorship, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Smt. Ambika Soni said today at an Interactive Session on, “Government Regulation vs Self Regulation” organised by PHD Chamber. Smt Soni said that she had initiated a discussion on how an autonomous body can look into all media-related issues.

"The UPA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is against any kind of control (on media) or censorship. In fact, we have initiated a discussion with broadcasters on what kind of a body can be formed which can be an independent regulator, looking into all aspects of the broadcasting sector," she said while interacting with business leaders at the PHD Chamber.

Ambika Soni unveiled a plan for complete digitalization of television in India with a likely approval of a satellite-based cable distribution platform soon.

“There should be a sunset hour for complete digitalization,” Soni said. Before the year is out, the cabinet is expected to approve HITS (Headend In the Sky), she said. “The HITS system will enable cable operators to digitalise their analogue system. It will eliminate carriage fees,” she said. She, however, did not put a deadline to the digitalisation process.          

Self regulatory bodies like the NBA( News Broadcasters Association ), IBF ( Indian Broadcasters Federation ) EBA ( Editors Broadcasters Association ) were all doing a good job and self regulatory apparatus was in place added Ms Soni.

Soni also said she was hopeful of cabinet approval for phase III of FM radio that will also include first-ever broadcast of news bulletins on private radio channels.

“The cabinet approval should happen before year-end,” Soni said when she was asked about timeline for rollout of FM-III radio policy. In other words, listeners can tune in to private FM radio channels for their daily fix of news early next year.

In his welcome remarks Mr. Satish Bagrodia, President, PHD Chamber said that at times intense competition and the need to boost revenues have led to programming that does not uphold ethics and standards.  This trend especially on Entertainment Channels has opened debate in Parliament and public.  The Government from time to time has toyed with the idea of government regulation.  On the other hand the media feels that the proposed certification rules by the Government have measures which are not favourable to freedom of press.