HRD Ministry seeks licences for 50 educational DTH channels

NEW DELHI: Even as the Government has asked the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to re-examine the issue of giving licences to state governments or central ministries for launching television channels, the Union Human Resource Development Ministry has sought permission to start fifty educational direct-to-home (DTH) TV channels.

HRD Ministry?s application has been referred by the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry to the Committee of Secretaries, which has in turn set up a Group of Secretaries to examine the need for modifications in the existing uplinking guidelines.

I&B Ministry sources told indiantelevision.com that applications were also received earlier from the Rural Development Ministry, and the West Bengal and Tamil Nadu governments seeking permission for launching their own television channels.

Under the existing rules, permission is only granted to companies registered under the Companies Act 1956 to own a television channel.

An HRD Ministry source said it was ironical that there is no provision for permission to educational channels, despite the Right to Education having become a Constitutional right.

Tewari had clarified last week that TRAI recommendations in 2008 against giving licences to states or central ministries to own television channels had neither been accepted nor been acted upon by his ministry.