Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed the ministry of information and broadcasting to place summary of the right to information bill at the next meeting of cabinet for its approval. Federal Secretary Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Azam on Friday said this while briefing the Senate's Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting which met here under the chairmanship of Senator Kamil Ali Agha.
Azam said that the prime minister through a letter has asked the ministry to introduce the right to information bill in the next cabinet meeting, copies of which will be provided to the members before the meeting. Taking notice of the percentage of foreign content allowed by Pemra (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) rules for private television channels, the committee members expressed dissatisfaction over the actions the regulatory body was taking to punish the violators.
Briefing the committee members, Pemra's acting chairman Kamal-uddin Tipu said that private TV channels were allowed to show 10 per cent foreign content and out of which 6pc could be Indian content. He said that whenever Pemra noticed a violation by any of the TV channels, it took immediate action by issuing notices and imposing fines.
However, the committee members were not satisfied with the reply and the committee's chairman asked the secretary information to take serious notice of the situation, depute a hard-working officer for monitoring of the private TV channels on daily basis and after monitoring the situation for 15 days, a report should be compiled and presented before the committee. Criticising the nature of Ramazan transmissions on private TV channels, the committee members expressed concerns over commercialism in the sector. The committee recommended to the ministry that Pemra should advise the private channels to increase the number of public service messages and playing national anthem should be made mandatory. The committee also observed the issues of playing Indian songs in news bulletins and Indian celebrities' endorsements in advertisement.