While the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has barred government ownership of TV channels, a host of ministries are taking the special purpose vehicle (SPV) route to bypass this regulation. The ministry of human resource & development (HRD), the departments of higher education (DoHE), space and telecommunications are planning to set up an SPV, with public broadcaster Prasar Bharati as a stakeholder, to push a series of education channels and public service awareness content via the direct-to-home (DTH) platform.
In December, Trai had disallowed central/state governments or their departments from owning/distributing TV channels. The new move to use the SPV route is sought to be justified through a 2009 Cabinet decision that allows the National Mission on Education to deliver TV/ e-content through Information & Communication Technology (NMEICT) using all possible technologies, including DTH.
The decision for floating a SPV and allowing (the government’s) indirect participation in TV channel/education content was taken recently at a high-level meeting of the Committee of Secretaries (CoS). The meeting was attended by secretaries of the departments of telecommunications, information and broadcasting, HRD, DoHE, legal affairs, science and technology, space and the cabinet secretary.
According to sources, the DoHE said the use of DTH platform is ?essential? for implementing the Right to Education Act in full and also for playing a major role in skill development outside the formal education sector. However, the I&B ministry is said to have clarified to the CoS that the recommendations of Trai will be applicable to the HRD ministry as well.
Sources said the collective view at the CoS supported exploring legal options, including getting permission for HRD?s education channel under the SATCOM policy of 2000, which comes under the department of space, or even amending the definition of ?broadcasting? in order to give a green signal to the project without flouting Trai norms.
The DoS is said to have suggested changing the characterization of the HRD proposal from ?broadcasting and telecommunications? services to ?education and developmental communications? to uplink the proposed channels directly under the SATCOM policy, government sources said.
The department of science and technology backed the idea of a SPV, stating such an entity could be a good starting point that will not violate the I&B ministry guidelines on broadcasting ownership.
The CoS also said the SPV will become a self-sustaining entity, which may not depend on the government for financial assistance, a senior official said.
?It was clarified by the I&B ministry in the meeting that the SPV will legally be under the Prasar Bharati with suitable representation by the HRD ministry on its board,? the official added.
On November 30, 2012, I&B secretary Uday Kumar Varma wrote to Trai chairman Rahul Khullar asking him “to kindly provide recommendations as to whether central, state government ministries and departments, state-owned firms, undertakings and joint ventures may be allowed” in broadcasting.
However, on December 28, Trai came out with its recommendations reiterating its earlier submission in 2007 and the Sarkaria Commission report that bars state ownership in broadcasting services or corporations. The matter was then referred to an inter-ministerial panel by the I&B minister Manish Tewari.
