By IANS,
New Delhi : The union cabinet Friday approved a proposal for financial restructuring of Prasar Bharati, under which the government will bear the salary and related expenses of the troubled public broadcaster for the next five years.
The proposal of the information and broadcasting ministry is based on recommendations of the Group of Ministers (GoM) set up under the chairmanship of the home minister, according to a statement here.
Since its inception, Prasar Bharati (PB), also known as the Broadcasting Corporation of India, has been grappling with financial problems and other problems, which have adversely affected its functioning as an autonomous organization.
According to the proposal, during the next five years from 2012-13 to 2016-17, “government non-Plan support will be made available to PB for meeting 100 percent expenses towards salary and salary related expenses. All other operating expenses to be borne by PB out of internal revenue earning”, the statement said.
The plan capital support by the government to the public broadcaster will be in the form of grants-in-aid only and not in the form of loan.
“Accumulated interest on loan-in-perpetuity, interest on capital loan and penal interest thereon payable by PB to government will be waived off; Loan-in-perpetuity and capital loans provided to PB will be converted into grants-in-aid; Accumulated arrears of space segment and spectrum charges accrued to PB upto 31.3.2011 of Rs.1,349.54 crore, to be waived off,” according to the statement.
The GoM was constituted March 7, 2006 to examine the issues concerning Prasar Bharati.
The GoM was again reconstituted on Feb 21 last year and “considered PB’s future revenue earning potential given its public service broadcasting mandate, and made a number of recommendations for making PB a financially viable and sustainable organization,” the statement said.