New twist on Narendra Modis’s NaMo TV
NaMo TV, which was launched on March 31st on DTH platforms, via his personal Twitter channel, covers Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election rallies, speeches and promotional events. The channel doesn't appear on the Information and Broadcasting ministry's list of 901 satellite TV channels.
This medium created a lot of chaos amongst other political parties as they feel it’s a propaganda tool for the prime minister at the time of the election and is in violation of the model code of conduct. They have brought this issue to the notice of Election Commission of India (EC), which has further wanted an explanation from the I&B Ministry for granting licences to the owners of the channel. The Ministry has been given time till Friday, 5 April, to reply back. The Commission, is likely to take a decision, April 9 when it meets.
Meanwhile, there are a lot of questions, whether NaMo is a Hindi news channel or a Hindi news service. While speaking to Bloomberg Quint, I&B Ministry, former secretary, Jawhar Sircar said that NaMo is circumventing the existing broadcasting laws and procedures. Wireless airwaves in India are allocated by the Wireless Planning and Coordination wing of the Department of Telecommunications, which are governed by the Wireless Act and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India regulations. “If NaMo TV is circumventing these rules, it's exposing a chink in the law which needs to be checked. What if 100 people come forward and set up channels directly linked to DTH & cable operators. The whole licensing regime would fall flat.”
However, amid all these confusion, DTH service provider Tata Sky said that he channel is a "special service" and its content comes from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
But as debate raged over allegations of channel violating the model code of conduct in place for the general elections, Tata Sky took to its Twitter handle and called the channel a "Hindi news service" providing the latest breaking news on national politics.
"Tata Sky is a content distribution platform. For any content related queries please connect with the owners of the content," it added.
Initially, Tata Sky had stated that the channel had been added to all subscribers account "as a launch offer."
"There is no option to delete the individual channel," it had said in a separate tweet.
The tweets are no longer available on Tata Sky’s Twitter handle.
