Vacancies in Prasar Bharati due to 'absence of suitable candidates': Govt

He was responding to a question by Trinamool Congress member Jawahar Sircar, a former chief executive officer of Prasar Bharati, who had sought to know why the post of chairman was vacant for one-and-a-half years.

New Delhi: The government Thursday cited "absence of suitable candidates" as the reason for vacancies in top ranks of state broadcaster Prasar Bharati. "CEO Prasar Bharati is officiating as the Chairman of the Board as per Section 8 of the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, 1990," Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

He was responding to a question by Trinamool Congress member Jawahar Sircar, a former chief executive officer of Prasar Bharati, who had sought to know why the post of chairman was vacant for one-and-a-half years. "The post of Member (Personnel) was advertised and applications have been received," the minister said to a question on keeping the post vacant for six years and eight months.

Thakur said the posts of Director General, Doordarshan and Director General, Akashvani were vacant since September, 2019 and December, 2019 respectively. "The vacancies were circulated on 04.09.2019 and 23.01.2020. The posts could not be filled in the absence of suitable candidates," he said. "Director General, DD News has been entrusted with the additional charge of Director General, Doordarshan and Principal Director General, News Services Division (NSD) has been entrusted with the additional charge of Director General, All India Radio (AIR)," Thakur said. (PTI)