Senate Standing Committee on Culture has called for bringing Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority under the umbrella of Culture Ministry.
The import and exhibition of Indian films should be done judiciously to help promote healthy competition at home without harming our religious, cultural norms and values, the committee emphasised here on Tuesday in its meeting.
The committee meeting, which was presided by Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry, also asked the government to take all the stakeholders on board before a final decision was reached in this regard.
It was both shocking and surprising that cable / channel operators were screening Indian movies despite a ban on their exhibition. The committee felt the need of a complete review of this issue.
The Committee also called for incentives to revive the moribund local film industry, and said lack of official patronage was not the only reason for the downfall of the film industry.
'The industry could be revived with input of innovative themes and technical expertise, as well as standard direction and production skills etc to compete in a globalise environment', the committee noted. The committee underlined the need to bring the Pemra and the Film Industry under one roof so that the relevant laws be harmonised, adding that the two departments must be transferred under the umbrella of Culture Ministry.
Secretary Culture informed the meeting that his Ministry had prepared a summary for presentation to the Prime Minister, recommending: import of Indian movies against export of equal number of movies.
a. Exhibitors / Producers / Directors may be allowed to enter this trade, which will be advertised widely through the media on first come first serve basis. This would ensure transparency.
b. The person who exports a Pakistani movie will be allowed to import an Indian movie, within three months, on the production of two documents, ie
i) Indian Censor Board Certificate that the film has been censored
ii) Certificate from Exhibitors Association that the film was released/exhibited in India.
c. Besides, the importer shall submit custom clearance certificate of the prints of imported Indian film.
Senators Mrs Rehana Yahya Baloch, Mrs Razina Alam Khan, Fauzia Fakhur-uz-Zaman, Syed Tahir Hussain Mashhadi, Dr Kauser Firdaus, Mohammad Enver Baig, Abdur Rahim Khan Mandokhail, and Sabina Rauf besides Secretary Ministry of Culture, senior official and office bearers of Film Exhibitors Association attended the meeting.
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