Bric a brac : RSTV battleground

WHAT is the rationale behind having two TV channels of Parliament? This is a puzzle to be solved by parliamentarians. Both Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV are managed under the active supervision of Speaker and Vice-President of India who is ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Both TV channels have remained in controversy for one reason or the other since inception. The beauty of both TV channels is that the administrative set-up is not burdened with earning revenue as the resources of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are at their disposal. So the administrative setup has a lacklustre attitude towards managing the affairs of these channels. The latest controversy is about Rajya Sabha TV’s CEO, Shashi Shekhar Vempati, who also happens to be the editor-in-chief of RSTV. This non-IAS officer wants a complete overhaul of the content and look-and-feel of RSTV. This has ruffled Naidu’s feathers. The buzz is that Naidu wants his favourite Dr I V Subba Rao, a retired IAS officer currently serving the VP in his secretariat, as the new editor-in-chief. Meanwhile the PMO itself has recently started jockeying for full control of RSTV. And this triangular contest is the reason that RSTV could not send its team for coverage of the Gujarat polls. It had been decided earlier that the channel would send at least three to four camera teams for covering the polls. But the Shashi Shekhar-Subba Rao tussle ensured that the teams could not finally go. And now the Prime Minister’s office is keeping watch on the channel after completely taking control of Lok Sabha TV.

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