By IANS
New Delhi : A Group of Ministers (GoM) set up to advise the government on making cash-strapped public broadcaster Prasar Bharati financially viable met here Friday, but the meeting ended without a decision on mobilising extra funds through a licence fee on TV sets.
The meeting, headed by Home Minister Shivraj Patil, comes ahead of a Supreme Court hearing early next month on the issue of the status of 38,000-odd employees of Prasar Bahrari.
Also at the meeting were Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy and Minister for Company Affairs Premchand Gupta.
“Proposals for financial restructuring of Prasar Bharati were discussed,” reliable sources said.
It was not clear whether any proposal to impose a licence fee or cess either on radio or TV sets was discussed.
Faced with growing public criticism ever since a section of the media reported a proposal for a licence fee, Dasmunsi Thursday vehemently denied that there was any such move to bail out the public broadcaster from financial crisis.
The GoM will also take a final call on demands by the employees of Prasar Bharati to treat them as government employees and keep the assets of the public broadcaster with the government.