JAMMU: Indian Cine and Television Artists supported the agitation launched by various organisations associated with creation of television programmes against the recent commissioning guidelines framed by Prasar Bharti.
In a press conference held here on Tuesday, prominent artists associated with films and television said that the guidelines were aimed at creating a situation where only Mumbai based private production houses and producers are benefitted at the cost of producers and production houses based in Jammu and Kashmir State, thus defeating the very purpose for which Kashir Channel was launched by Doordarshan i.e. promotion of regional talent in every aspect of programming.
The speakers also denounced the recent circular issued by Doordarshan for procuring programmes under acquisition mode.
They said the main purpose for announcing this scheme was to bypass the process of commissioning of programmes adding that while the budget announced for commissioning of programmes, mainly aimed at giving undue advantage to Mumbai based private production houses and producers, was Rs. 5.00 lakh per episode, the budget for programmes to be acquired through acquisition category was between Rs.25,000 to Rs.50,000 only.
This would only result in a situation where producers would offer their old, low quality programmes for acquisition, thus further reducing the already dwindling viewership of Kashir Channel, they said.
The speakers alleged that all this was being done by Doordarshan under a conspiracy to malign and bring a bad name to a once vibrant Kashir Channel.
Replicating this sad and disastrous route for DD Kashir will only result in further degradation of the channel, the speakers emphasised.
Further, as all producers and production houses will be compelled to offer only old programmes under the acquisition scheme due to the abysmally low budget, it would result in discrimination against artists, anchors, narrators, dubbing artists and others associated with programme production, who have already reached starvation levels due to no work for the past six years, they said. The speakers demanded immediate intervention of authorities at the highest level of the government in the ministry as also bureaucracy to redress the genuine demands of the artists. The press conference was addressed by Mushtaq Kak, Tanveer Dar and Pankaj Khajuria.