The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) is facing Rs 433 million current budget deficit, Sherry Rehman, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, said while chairing a meeting at the Ministry here on Tuesday.
She said that to overcome this deficit, the PBC should frame efficient 'Terms of Reference' (TORs) for recruitment and overall efficient management and utilisation of its human resources.
The Minister for Information also decided that an overseeing parliamentary committee will be constituted to review the performance of PBC with a view to pinpointing serious lapses and mismanagement in the organisation, especially the nature of exorbitant recruitments.
Fresh recruitments and upgradation of posts in PBC should be stopped forthwith, she said. She directed the PBC management to suggest plans for improving the balance sheet of the organisation and its performance in one month.
The Minister said that emphasis should be on manageable cuts in expenditure and efficient utilisation of assets. The reliance on government grants needs to be minimised and serious measures need to be undertaken to revamp revenue generation mechanism by inducting qualified marketing professionals and to modernise programming that is responsive to consumer demands.
She stressed that radio engineering and transmission of programmes needed to be reviewed by replacing obsolete equipment with modern and competitive system like FM broadcast, where feasible, in relation to prevalent AM/SW signals. The transmission hours would be designed after an analysis, in view of the changed ground realities.