Senators belonging to the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting have expressed uncertainty regarding the government’s plan to reform state-run media and have decided to deliberate on the decision.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry was unable to attend the meeting as he was accompanying the prime minister to the General Headquarters (GHQ), to which Senator Javed remarked, “This [absence] is an exception, but let us see if he gives importance to the committee in future.”
The information secretary said, “There is a need for debate on the proposal and it will be presented to the committee as well as to parliament whenever it takes shape.”
Senator Faisal Javed asked, “When you cannot afford new ventures, and you are short of content since several programmes are re-run — why do you want to open two more channels?”