(a) whether the Government is aware that excess viewing of television by children
is leading them to diseases such as obesity, behavioural dysfunction, epilepsy and
general fatigue as reported in the Hindu dated January 26, 2005;
(b) if so, the steps taken/ to be taken by the Government in this regard;
(c) whether the quality of language used in the TV programmes is not good; and
(d) if so, the steps taken/to be taken by the Government to improve the quality of
language in TV programmes?
THE MINISTER OF INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND CULTURE (SHRI S. JAIPAL REDDY)
(a) to (d) Television viewing habits of children are best regulated through parental
guidance and control. However, programmes and advertisements of all TV channels
transmitted/re-transmitted through the cable network are required to adhere to the
Programme and Advertising Code prescribed under the Cable Television Networks
(Regulation) Act, 1995 and rules framed thereunder.
The Programme Code, inter alia, provides that care should be taken to ensure that
programmes meant for children do not contain any bad language or explicit scenes of
violence; programmes unsuitable for children must not be carried in the cable
service.
Having regard to the concerns expressed in various quarters about the adverse
impact of certain kind of broadcasting content, a workshop was organised on
16.02.2005 on content issues on television channels, attended by stakeholders, media
heads, educationists, NGOs, cable operators associations, representatives of women`s
and consumer organisations etc. The recommendations of the workshop are under
examination of the Government