Poor quality programmes, bureaucracy bane of Doordarshan: K Kunhikrishnan

KOZHIKODE: Lack of quality content is the main reason for the plight of Doordarshan, opined former Doordarshan additional director-general K. Kunhikrishnan. Extravagance at Prasar Bharathi secretariat is another reason for the poor show of the public broadcasting system, he said. He was addressing a seminar on public broadcasting conducted by the Association of Radio and Television Engineering Employees (ARTEE) here on Tuesday. “Doordarshan has the most modern equipment and facilities and also manpower to effectively run the show which can compete with any private TV channels in the country. Both Doordarshan and All India Radio have the best coverage across the country. However we have failed to tap the advantages thanks to the lack of quality products,” he said.

“In the last two five-year plans, there was no allocation made for the improvement of its content. The BBC is still regarded as one of the best channels because of content,” he added. “The six-member team at Prasar Bharathi secretariat was allocated Rs 20 crore for their facilities in the last budget. However, for the new media technology to be implemented by Doordarshan, the amount allotted was just Rs 20 crore. It was allotted Rs 150 crore for the mobile TV technology to be implemented by March, 2017 across the country. But so far it has not been completed,” he added. He also criticised the officers for the lack of dedication to improve the service. Calicut Press Club president Kamal Varadoor, who spoke, opined that the former ADG should have raised these issues when he was in service for improving Doordarshan services.