Committee keeping watch to ensure balanced coverage of RS proceedings by DD

NEW DELHI: The Government on Monday said a committee is keeping a constant watch to ensure that public broadcaster Doordarshan (DD) covers in a balanced way both
treasury and opposition benches in the Rajya Sabha.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said during the Question Hour: “Balanced broadcasting is the purpose of a public broadcaster.”

A committee is in place to monitor. “It will continue to do and if you have any suggestion it is welcome,” he added.

He was responding to a query by RJD member Manoj Kumar Jha, who sought to know if the DD follows any particular protocol to ensure balanced coverage of both treasury and
opposition benches in the Rajya Sabha.

To a query on poor quality of DD service and steps taken by the government to improve it, the minister said it was a“matter of fact” and added, “improving quality is an ongoing
process and efforts are on.”

He said many steps have been taken to improve the qualityof services of DD. For instance, about 17 High Definition (HD)vehicles are being used for better quality, studios have been
modernised and video walls have been installed.

“Now, the look and feel has improved. Many DD programmesare getting popular,” he added.To another query, the minister said DD’s 104 channels are made available free to people. (AGENCIES)