Five-member committee to select Rajya Sabha TV's next editor-in-chief

A five-member committee, headed by Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash, has been formed to select the candidate for the post of editor-in-chief of Rajya Sabha TV (RSTV), an order said.

Other members of the Search-cum-Selection Committee are Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta, Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati, Additional Secretary (Personnel) in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat P P K Ramacharyulu and journalist Rahul Srivastava, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat said in the order.

Rajya Sabha TV is owned and operated by the Upper House of Parliament and the vice-president is its chairman.

"The committee will invite applications and conduct interviews to select a suitable candidate and submit its recommendation to the Hon'ble Chairman," the order dated October 18 said.

Gurdeep Singh Sappal, who was serving as the CEO and editor-in-chief of RSTV, had resigned after Hamid Ansari's term as vice-president came to an end in August.

After Sappal's resignation, Vempati was given the additional charge of the RSTV CEO.

Earlier, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu had sought an audit of RSTV as he pitched for an action plan to expand the channel's reach.