THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI P. R. DASMUNSI)
(a) to (e) : A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT AS REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 124 FOR ANSWER ON 1-12-2005
(a) No such trend can be indicated. Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has not made any such study.
(b) The names of the channels who have violated the Programme and Advertising Code prescribed under Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995 and rules framed thereunder during the last three years is as per Annexure.
(c) & (d) During 2003, 68 show cause notices were issued to 30 TV channels. During 2004, 7 show cause notices were issued to 7 TV channels. The transmission/retransmission of a satellite channel namely REN TV was also prohibited. Similarly, during 2005 till 28.11.2005, 32 Show cause notices have been issued to 27 TV channels for various violations of the Programme and Advertising Codes.
In 2005, transmission/retransmission of satellite channels namely BlueKiss, BlueKiss Express, BlueKiss Promo, TBL-XXX and Free-XTV was prohibited.
In respect of the channels against whom show cause notices were issued, in 7 cases, channels withdrew the programmes/advertisements on receipt of show cause notice, therefore, no action was taken. In 13 cases, the Inter-ministerial Committee recommended no action. In 31 cases, channels were asked to stop telecasting the said programmes/advertisements. In 17 cases, an advisory was issued. In 6 cases, warnings were issued to the channels for violating the Codes. In 1 case, transmission and uplinking of one channel was suspended for 30 days.
(e) All programmes and advertisements on satellite channels transmitted/re-transmitted through cable networks and DTH networks are required to adhere to the Programmes and Advertising Codes prescribed under the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act 1995 and rules framed thereunder. These codes inter-alia prohibit telecast of any vulgar and obscene material. Doordarshan, the public service broadcaster regularly telecasts programmes depicting Indian heritage, art, culture and tradition. DD Bharati is an exclusive satellite channel of Doordarshan dedicated to depiction of Indian heritage.
Action against violations of the Codes can be taken by any authorised officer i.e. DM, SDM or Commissioner of Police or any other officer notified in the official gazette by the Central Government or State Government. The Central Government has constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee to look into the violations of the Programme and Advertising Codes. The Committee either suo-moto, or on receipt of a complaint, examines cases of violations and appropriate action initiated.
The Government has also set up a Committee comprising of various stake holders to review the existing Programme and Advertising Code with a view to modifying them to meet contemporary community standards and to make them more specific and reduce scope for subjective discretion while facilitating self-regulation. An order has been issued asking State Governments to set up district level monitoring committees comprising of representatives of local NGOs working for women and children’s welfare, women’s college principal, academicians/ psychologists/ sociologists etc. to look into violations of the codes by local cable channels and receive and dispose off complaints relating to content telecast on local channels. The Government is also upgrading and modernising its monitoring set up by creating a facility which will be able to simultaneously monitor hundred television channels.
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 124 FOR 01.12.2005
Name of the TV channels who were issued show cause notices for violation of Programme Code and Advertising Code.
YEAR 2003
Zee TV, Zee Cinema, AXN, B4U, Channel [V], ESPN, HBO, MTV, Star Movies, Star Plus, Star Sports, Star World, Zee News, CNBC, Sony Entertainment, Star TV, Sahara TV, Jaya TV, Raj TV, Vijay TV, ETV Marathi, ETV Bangala, Ten Sports, Udaya TV (Surya TV), Aaj Tak, National Geographic, Alpha Marathi, SABe TV, ETV (Ushakiran TV), Set Max.
YEAR 2004
MH1, ETC, Channel [V], B4U, Balle Balle, a-Punjabi Channel, Cine World.
YEAR 2005
ITV, MTV, M/s. Spectra Net Ltd./Trinity Power, Zee News, India TV, Fashion TV, Zoom Channel, Trendz TV (Zee Telefilms Ltd.), Star One Channel, NDTV, Sahara TV, Aastha Channel, Asianet Global, Kairali Channel, B4U Channel, CNBC Awaaz Channel, SABe TV, Star Utsav Channel, Zee Gujrati Channel, Zee Bangala, Zee Cinema, Zee TV, Jaya TV, Sony Entertainment Channel, Sahara One, In Digital Channel, TEJA TV.
