CWG: I&B, Prasar Bharati were told "later" about outsourcing of broadcast rights

NEW DELHI: Even if the year 2011 is coming to a close, the unravelling of the scams surrounding the Commonwealth Games 2010 is nowhere close to coming to an end.

Even a year after the Games got over, a Parliamentary Committee "deeply concerned about the controversy" says it is clear that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry seems to be in dilemma about the actual loss on account of broadcasting rights.

What is more, the Standing Committee for Communication and Information Technology notes that neither the I&B Ministry nor Prasar Bharati were aware that SIS Live, United Kingdom, had outsourced the coverage and production to Zoom Communications and this fact came to their notice at "a later stage".

The Standing Committee was also "surprised to note the opinion given by the Law Ministry that the sub-contract was not in violation of the clause which existed between Prasar Bharati and SIS Live."

The Committee also note that "the Ministry have justified the selection process as well as the cost estimates" of the award of work for Production and Coverage facilities for the Games to SIS Live, UK, for Rs 2.46 billion. "The representative of the Ministry informed the Committee that a transparent process was followed in the award of contract and the Ministry was quite satisfied that there was no shortcoming while giving its approval."

"Although the basis for calculating the amount is not known to the Standing Committee, yet it raises a serious question mark about the reasonableness of the rate quoted by the selected firm," the Committee says.

But the Committee says that "the fact remains that the contract which SIS Live got from Prasar Bharati for Rs 2.46 billion was outsourced by the entity to Zoom Communications for Rs 1.77 billion. The High Level Committee constituted by the Government under VK Shunglu has estimated the work below Rs 1 billion."

The Standing Committee has said "the Secretary during the course of oral evidence before the Committee initially stated that the cost was excessive but subsequently justified the cost estimate as the same figure that was arrived at by a Committee constituted by the Ministry."

The Committee has urged the Government for an early decision in the matter. It has noted that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting an investigation in this regard.
"The Committee desire that the alleged irregularities in the award of work for Production and Coverage facilities may be scrupulously probed by the investigating agency and the report submitted to the Government at the earliest. The recommendations of the Group of Ministers (on the Shunglu Committee report) and the findings of CBI along with the action taken by the Ministry in this regard should be communicated to the Committee."

It has taken note of the fact that the Shunglu Committee report of January 2011 was submitted to the Group of Ministers (GoM) on 24 March 2011, while also noting that Prasar Bharati CEO BS Lalli was suspended and Doordarshan Director-General Aruna Sharma repatriated to her cadre after seeking their explanations, apart from the CBI being permitted to conduct an inquiry.

Prasar Bharati realised gross revenue of Rs 604.8 million through commercial advertisements during the Games held from 3 to 14 October last year.