New govt to retain autonomy of Prasar Bharati: Javadekar

New govt to retain autonomy of Prasar Bharati: Javadekar
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New Delhi: Asserting that press freedom is "sacrosanct", Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar Tuesday said the new government at the Centre will retain the autonomy of public broadcaster Prasar Bharati.

He said this after flagging off 17 state-of-the-art high-definition digital service news gathering (DSNG) vans at Doordarshan Bhawan here.

Prasar Bharati was established through an act which safeguards its autonomy, Javadekar said.

"Autonomy of Prasar Bharati is important. We will retain it...We want Prasar Bharati to work smoothly and bring new programmes and find new dimensions," he said.

On the occasion, Javadekar besides highlighting the significance of the autonomy of the public broadcaster, also said press freedom is "sacrosanct", according to a statement issued by the ministry.

"These vans are equipped to telecast live using video stream from multiple cameras. All of these are equipped to support telecast of content in high-definition through which viewers across the country will be able to access high quality content," it said.

Javadekar also talked about enhanced viewer experience through the deployment of these DSNG vans with high definition compatibility, which will cater to DD News.

The minister lauded public broadcasters DD and All India Radio (AIR) for their credible programmes and coverage and asked officials to promote channels like DD Bharati.

He also appreciated the expansion of Prasar Bharati on social media platforms like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

Prasar Bharati Chairman Suryaprakash said the public broadcaster is moving ahead in the direction of "Sabka Vishwas" policy propounded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Information and Broadcasting Secretary Amit Khare said a three-year plan has been approved by the government to develop the infrastructure of Prasar Bharati at an expenditure of Rs 1,054 crore.

"There are many channels in the country which claim to be the fastest, but DD and AIR command the highest credibility," he said.

DD and AIR have the highest numbers of viewers and listeners in the country, he added.