By IANS
Dhaka : The Bangladesh government is re-examining existing laws to reduce government control and grant autonomy to the state-run radio network Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh TV (BTV), similar to that of BBC.
The move, decided by the Council of Advisors Saturday, comes six years after the Bangladesh Television Authority Act (BTA) 2001 was enacted by the then Sheikh Hasina government, but generated controversy with elections just a few months away.
Critics had then said that the law ended up tightening state control rather than relaxing them. The Khaleda Zia government (2001-Oct2006) “ignored” the law, The Daily Star said Sunday.
Now the caretaker government of Chief Advisor Fakhruddin Ahmed has initiated steps to enforce this law with necessary amendments in line with the recommendations of the commission formed by the Awami League government in 1996.
Law and Information Adviser Mainul Hosein said the government has decided to amend the existing law to make BTV an autonomous body and asked the information ministry to review the law.
He said credibility of BTV and Betar lies in their freedom and autonomy, on the lines of BBC.
The council of advisers is yet to decide about autonomy for Betar, the radio network.
Three successive governments since 1991 of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of Zia and Hasina’s Awami League had in their election manifestos pledged to give autonomy to BTV.
While radio remains under the state control, the Zia government had allowed a number of private TV channels to operate. Some of them, belonging to politicians and businessmen, have since closed down.