Govt eyes TV space with its own channel to promote its schemes

With elections around the corner, the state government has proposed to start its own television channel, called Gram Swaraj TV, to promote its schemes and programmes.

Anchored by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) department, the channel will be started through a company called TR Media Entertainment Private Limited with an investment of Rs 10 crore and a monthly expenditure of Rs 1.5 crore.

DH accessed RDPR note sheets in which RDPR Minister H K Patil observed the need for the government to have its own television channel in order to make citizens aware of its schemes, besides highlighting the achievements of his own department. The Abdul Nazir Sab State Institute of Rural Development (ANSSIRD) is already using satellite communication technology to reach out to television sets across 176 taluks. But, that was not enough, the minister noted. Curiously, Patil has suggested that the proposal be exempted under the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements Act.

The idea was first mooted in August 2016 when the department wondered if the satellite communication facility at ANSSIRD can be converted into a TV channel. In November 2016, a committee comprising officials from Doordarshan, Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) and experts from the television sector submitted a report to the government on what needed to be done. Then, in March 2017, T R Media Entertainment enters the picture with a formal proposal of starting a TV channel. Apparently, the company has volunteered procure an uplinking and teleport licence (Rs 20 crore) on its own.

The financial estimates - Rs 10 crore for basic infrastructure of the TV channel and a monthly expense of Rs 1.5 crore - received approval from DIPR as being “reasonable.”

The RDPR department, in its proposal to the Finance Department, has argued that TR Media Entertainment was chosen because it has an experienced team that launched and operated several TV channels. The company was also a consultant for the BBC in South India, the department has claimed. “We have recently received the proposal and are looking into it,” Additional Chief Secretary (finance) ISN Prasad said.

In fact, it was in 2014 that then Information and Public Relations Minister R Roshan Baig wondered if the government could start its own channel to cover Legislature sessions on the lines of the Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha TV.