DNA:
New Delhi: Monday, 06 April 2015.
Its budget is
bigger than that of any other government channel and growing; it generates no
revenue because it shows no advertisements, even government ones; and it
doesn't track viewership ratings either. Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV), which has spent
Rs1,700 crore in four years, is instead bankrolled completely by the upper
house of Parliament and therefore the tax payer.
The Lok Sabha
had already been telecasting proceedings of the lower house live when the Rajya
Sabha made a bid four years ago to do the same using parliament's Sansad Cable
Network with a modest budget of Rs1.55 crore. But, as official documents
accessed by dna show, a decision was then taken, backed by Rajya Sabha chairman
and country's Vice President Hamid Ansari, to launch an independent Rajya Sabha
channel.
The initial
cost to set up channel was Rs28.94 crore. This has been escalating since. It
would have cost just Rs1.55 crore (annually) if Rajya Sabha proceedings had
been telecast live using the Lok Sabha platform.
While many
private news TV channels have closed down owing to paucity of funds, RSTV is
growing bigger and bigger. At Rs69.28 crore, the channel's annual budget in
2014-15 is five times more than Lok Sabha TV's (LSTV) Rs12.35 crore. On
average, each of the 19 Doordarshan channels has a budget of just Rs20 crore
per annum.
Comptroller
and Auditor General, in its draft report accessed by dna, says the RSTV has no
roadmap. The raison d'etre of running such a news channel is itself
questionable. Elsewhere in the world, including countries of the European Union
and the US, parliamentary proceedings are shown through webcasts that cost a
pittance.
In 2013-14,
LSTV generated a revenue of Rs13.98 crore through awareness and publicity
advertisements of the government and public sector units (PSU). RSTV has no
such source of funding.
According to
channel CEO Gurdeep Sappal, "The Rajya Sabha committee has decided that
being directly under Parliament, we will not take money from people and so we
do not even air government advertisements."
Defending the
channel, he said the quality of shows was at par with any private news channel.
But in the era of cut throat competition and TRP (Television Rating Point)
wars, RSTV stays out of both.
"I am
against the whole TRP game. But any average person on comparison will find that
we are as good as any other private channel," Sappal told dna.
The channel
has four web links, whose viewership when put together does not exceed one
lakh. "Initially the plan was to set up RSTV under the Sansad Cable
Network, wherein it was to share the infrastructure and facilities of LSTV. But
when LSTV failed to cooperate, an independent set-up was created,'' he said.
The CAG's
draft report questioned the very relevance of RSTV, which does not follow the
salary scale of either the Rajya Sabha secretariat or the government.
RSTV has
appointed 103 professionals on contract basis with consolidated high value of
fees following no established procedure and standards.
The CAG has
also observed that the RSTV management has taken several ad hoc measures. For
instance, it envisaged the use of outdated SD technology whereas the
requirement was the latest HD technology, it has alleged in its draft report.
It also proposed one studio instead of two – one for news and another for
programming.
Till February
2012, even before the channel was fully functional, RSTV executive directors
and executive editors had spent Rs 60 lakh on travel by taxis, the CAG's draft
report reveals. RSTV was to begin telecasting from May 2011 but could not be
fully functional till May 2012.
Also,
Secretary (expenditure) Rata P Watal recently expressed displeasure that RSTV
was operating its studio at Noida and simultaneously planning a new one by
hiring office space at the Talkatora Stadium complex. Ministry of Finance
conveyed this through a note to Rajya Sabha and advocated that there has to be
a mandatory cut of 10 per cent on all the expenses, including that of RSTV.
A PIL
exposing irregularities in appointment of senior officers of the rank of Joint
Secretary and above in the Rajya Sabha secretariat comes up for hearing in the
court of Chief Justice on Monday. Officer on Special Duty to Vice President
Hamid Ansari and RSTV CEO Gurdeep Sappal are among them.
Sappal is the
first ever non-bureaucrat CEO of government-run TV. He has worked for two years
as Associate Producer at TVI of Business India Ltd. Besides, he was Assistant
Private Secretary to a minister during 2004 and 2007.
According to
RTI information, job of RSTV CEO was never advertised. Unlike LSTV CEO, whose
job was prominently advertised, Sappal was handpicked for the job without any
competition.
Additional
perks that came with the job are top class house in posh Bapa Nagar and a life
and distinguished pass for Parliament's Central Hall on 'out of turn' basis.
Sappal makes
Rs1.75 lakh per month, more than the LSTV head's Rs1.5 lakh. The salary is also
much above the scale of a joint secretary, Sappal's official rank.
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