Search for Rajya Sabha TV head begins, Surya Prakash, Swapan Dasgupta on panel
, ET Bureau|
Oct 21, 2017, 12.18 AM IST
NEW DELHI: A search-cum-selection committee headed by Prasar Bharati chairman A Surya Prakash and consisting of Swapan Dasgupta, MP, Rahul Srivastava, TV journalist and CEO Shashi Shekar has been put in place by the Rajya Sabha secretariat to come up with a name to head RS TV.
The committee that will also have a senior bureaucrat as member will start advertising for the post soon and come up with a shortlist of professionals for the post of editor in chief in 10 days, an official said.
Rajya Sabha TV is owned and operated by the Upper House of Parliament, and the Vice-President is its chairman. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu is putting in place a time bound plan to get Rajya Sabha TV on track and act according to its remit, senior officials said.
A number of discussions have already taken place withe vice president on the revamp of the channel, officials said. The VP had also directed a time-bound review and rationalisation of manpower in RS TV.
The post of RSTV CEO is likely to be done away with and there will be changes in the way the channel operates too, an official said, adding the channel in the coming days will focus on showing proceedings of the house and not necessarily news programmes.
“It has been observed that RS TV was trying to compete with 24 hour news channels by showing news programmes and debates. That is not necessary. These might be done away with and there will be focus on national content,” an official said.
Till recently Gurpreet Singh Sappal doubled as the CEO and editor-in-chief of the channel. He resigned after Hamid Ansari’s term as Vice-President ended this August. Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati was given the additional charge of the post.
The committee that will also have a senior bureaucrat as member will start advertising for the post soon and come up with a shortlist of professionals for the post of editor in chief in 10 days, an official said.
Rajya Sabha TV is owned and operated by the Upper House of Parliament, and the Vice-President is its chairman. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu is putting in place a time bound plan to get Rajya Sabha TV on track and act according to its remit, senior officials said.
A number of discussions have already taken place withe vice president on the revamp of the channel, officials said. The VP had also directed a time-bound review and rationalisation of manpower in RS TV.
The post of RSTV CEO is likely to be done away with and there will be changes in the way the channel operates too, an official said, adding the channel in the coming days will focus on showing proceedings of the house and not necessarily news programmes.
“It has been observed that RS TV was trying to compete with 24 hour news channels by showing news programmes and debates. That is not necessary. These might be done away with and there will be focus on national content,” an official said.
Till recently Gurpreet Singh Sappal doubled as the CEO and editor-in-chief of the channel. He resigned after Hamid Ansari’s term as Vice-President ended this August. Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati was given the additional charge of the post.
