Senate body expresses concern over Ramzan shows on TV, says there should be a limit to commercialism
The government on Friday assured a Senate standing committee that the ‘Right to Information Bill 2014’ (RTI) would be presented for approval before the federal cabinet in its next meeting.
During a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting presided by Senator Kamil Ali Agha, members expressed concerns over delay in getting the bill approved from the cabinet.
“Though the bill was approved by the standing committee on July 15, 2014, it is difficult to understand why the information ministry did not present it before the cabinet during its previous meetings,” said PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar.
“The bill is facing delays for about two years now and the matter should be expedited,” he added.
Ministry officials told members of the committee that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a letter had asked the ministry to introduce the Right to Information Bill in the next cabinet meeting.
Earlier, the ministry had assured the members that the bill would be presented in the next meeting of the cabinet before tabling it in parliament as a government bill on November 17, 2014.
The committee also expressed its dissatisfaction over lack of action taken by the regulatory body to punish violators, while taking note of foreign content allowed by Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).
The committee was told by the acting PEMRA chairman that 10 per cent foreign content is allowed under the rules out of which 6 per cent can be Indian content. He said whenever a violation is noted by the body, notices are issued and fines are imposed on the respective channels.
The members of the committee, however, were not satisfied by the reply given and the chairman committee asked the secretary of the Information Ministry to monitor the working and present a day-to-day report of these violations within 15 days.
The nature of Ramzan transmissions on private TV channels was also criticised by the members and they observed that there should be a limit to commercialism. The committee also observed the issue related to playing Indian songs in news bulletins.
The committee recommended to the ministry that PEMRA should advise private channels to increase the number of public service messages and that playing of the national anthem should be made compulsory.
Acting PEMRA chairman was of the opinion that the terms and conditions of contracts with private channels do not allow the body to instruct them regarding content aired. This statement, however, was rejected by the committee.
