Financial constraints: government unable to initiate media city scheme, Kaira informs National Assembly

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira informed the National Assembly here on Friday that it is impossible for Ministry of Information to initiate scheme of media city due to financial constraints. In a written reply, he informed the house that the establishment of state-of-the-art Media City would require huge space and investment.
However, the ministry is planning to construct a multi-storey information house on an available plot in Sector F-6/G-6, Islamabad. As a first step, a PC-II (estimated cost of Rs 20 million), for feasibility study/preliminary architectural design/financial pattern of the proposed information house has been approved by the Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP) on April 21, 2009 at a cost of Rs 20 million.
Due to financial constraints, the allocation of Rs 20 million could not be made by the Planning Commission/ Finance Division during the current fiscal (2009-10). For the required allocation of Rs 20 million, the request for allocation of funds is being included in the budget estimates of 2010-11.
On allocation of funds in 2010-11, the feasibility study will be completed and PC-I of the project will be submitted to the Planning Commission for their consideration. The proposed information house will accommodate offices of the main ministry and its attached departments located in the vicinity of Zero Point, Islamabad. The information house would also facilitate the private media houses in Islamabad, he added. Responding to a query, he said that the PEMRA had issued 83 licenses to private TV channels out of which 62 were operational. There were few private TV channels that had not so far been granted licences, however, they were functioning in the country at present without licences.