MAMATA’S LOYALIST GETS TV LICENCE AS 146 OTHERS WAIT
Nistula Hebbar
Posted online: May 07, 2010 at 2323 hrs
New Delhi: In politics, lifelines come with strings attached, and Mamata Banerjee’s support for the UPA-II alliance is no different. Even as uplink applications for nearly 146 tele-vision channels are pending due to a regulatory impasse, Banerjee, chief of the Trinamool Congress and Cabinet minister for Railways, has quietly got a channel licence for artist Suvaprasanna, her supporter back in West Bengal.
Suvaprasanna’s news and current affairs channel in Bengali Akhon Samay is ready to go on air on May 9. Three weeks back, the channel received clearance from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) after Mamata took up cudgels on the artist’s behalf, sources said.
Curiously, on October 8 last year, the I&B ministry had written to Trai— which regulates the broadcast sector as well — asking it to review the entire process of granting uplink/downlink permission to TV channels.
Subsequently, on January 18 this year, the ministry announced its decision to halt the process until Trai came out with its recommendations. The ministry cited spectrum shortage as one of the reasons for suspending the process of granting new permissions.
Akhon Samay had applied for a license on December 14 last year, during this freeze period. According to top sources both in the ministry and her own party, Banerjee was not willing to take no for an answer, and personally intervened in the matter. Suvaprasanna, a painter of repute, is associated with the Trinamool Congress. Last year, he was appointed chairman of the Railways Passenger Amenities Committee, which comes under the Railways ministry headed by Banerjee.
Suvaprasanna confirmed to FE that his channel was all set for a glittering launch.
“We got clearance around three weeks ago, and will launch on May 9. The
channel is owned by Dev Kripa Vidyasagar Pvt Ltd, a company I formed with two other partners. The launch will be on the 150th birth anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore,” he said.
“Akhon Samay is a 24-hour news channel with a focus on culture,” he added. He, however, denied that Banerjee had intervened on his behalf.
Ironically, Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Big Broadcasting’s proposals to launch 32 channels are still hanging fire. Ministry officials have a convenient explanation to offer. “On April 1, I&B ministry decided that it will start processing pending applications for television channels. After April 1, the I&B ministry has given permission for over dozen television channels on a case-by-case basis,” informed sources said.
For Banerjee, the gain will be measured by Akhon Samay’s ability to combat media outlets sympathetic to the Left Front government in West Bengal. Assembly elections 2011 will be as much about propaganda as about performance. Allies extracting their pound of flesh is not new to politics. Telecom minister A Raja has been able to hold on to his post, despite strident Opposition protest to his continuance in the Cabinet. Raja has been accused of causing the exchequer a loss of Rs 1 lakh crore in the disbursal of wireless spectrum in 2008.
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