Exclusive: Read the full story behind why Prasar Bharati decided to terminate its association with PTI and save Rs 10 crores annually
16 October, 2020
OpIndia Staff
Exclusive: Read the full story behind why Prasar Bharati decided to terminate its association with PTI and save Rs 10 crores annually
PTI can now rest in peace
The Prasar Bharati has finally terminated its arrangement with the Press Trust of India (PTI). Earlier, it was announced that the government of India institution will be reviewing its arrangement with the PTI following its interview with the Chinese Ambassador wherein the news agency was accused of providing a platform for the Chinese to run their propaganda.
Prasar Bharati displeased with PTI interview with Chinese Ambassador
Sources within Prasar Bharati had stated that the ‘anti-national’ coverage of the PTI does not make it feasible for it to carry forward the relationship. People had pointed out that the ‘interview‘ appeared as a press release by the Chinese Communist Party in the wake of the ongoing conflict between India and China at the Line of Actual Control.
Sun Weidong placed the entire blame of the clash at Galwan valley at the feet of the Indian Government and yet, the PTI did not bother to counter the claim with actual facts from the ground in any manner. He claimed that “Indian side violated the consensus and started provocation which led to escalation of the situation.”
In the same ‘interview’, Weidong also claimed that Indian soldiers attacked the Chinese troops which led to the clash. Concurrently, he accused the Indian Government of numerous other violations. Throughout it all, the PTI allowed the Chinese ambassador to peddle his propaganda without making the slightest bit of effort to counter it.
The format of the ‘interview’ also attracted a lot of criticism. There were only three questions that was posed to the Chinese ambassador without any counter-questioning. Therefore, it did end up looking like a press release in the end. Sun Weidong was at complete liberty to oeddle the party line without any fear of being questioned on his dubious claims.
PTI received crores of funds from Prasar Bharati
The PTI has been receiving fees from the public broadcaster for decades, which run into crores. PTI is said to have received nearly Rs. 200 crores since the 1980s in public funding with no public accountability. Prasar Bharati sought greater transparency into how much the PTI charges private organisations in comparison with the public funding that is sought.
PTI confirmed it is a private entity in response to RTI inquiry
It is also pertinent to note that the PTI had submitted to the Central Information Commission, New Delhi a few years ago that it was a private entity and thus, outside the purview of the RTI Act. It was also said that no government institutions are under any obligation to subscribe or pay for the news services offered by PTI. Thus, while some have been crying victim, Prasar Bharati is fully well within its rights to terminate its contract with the news agency.
The CIC report on the matter said, “The PTI in its communication dated 05.10.2012 reiterated that they do not fall under Section 2(h)(ii) of the RTI Act since PTI is a private, nongovernmental organisation which does not receive any funds from either the Central or the State Government in the form of any subsidy or funds. The PTI has further emphasised that it is not even benefited by any direct or indirect finance or funding from any Government agency.”
It added, “As a company incorporated under the Indian Companies Act 1913, the PTI stated that it is not promoted by any agency of the Government but is a ‘notforprofitcompany’, which does not pay dividends to its shareholders who are owners/proprietors of newspapers of all scale. It is categorically specified that neither the Government nor any of its agencies hold any shares in PTI.”
Long History of Fake News by PTI
The PTI has a long history of peddling fake news. Moreover, their fake news always appears to tilt in one direction and has the potential of denting the prospects of only a single political party. Be it the Surgical Strikes or the anti-CAA protests in Uttar Pradesh, fake news peddled by the PTI always hurts the prospect of the Hindutva oriented party.
During Delhi assembly elections this year, PTI had completely misreported the share of candidates with criminal records from various parties. While AAP had 51% candidates facing serious criminal cases, PTI reported it as only 25%, misquoting a report by Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR). Similarly, they had also changed the numbers for BJP and Congress.
In 2017, Press Trust of India had claimed that the UP government had drastically cut the budgetary allocation for secondary and higher education in the state. In that instant too, they had reported wrong numbers. In the same year, PTI had come out with a news feed which claimed that the former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had planned the 2016 surgical strikes in the Pakistan occupied Kashmir due to an “insulting question” of a TV news anchor, which was completely false.
These were just a few example of fake news by the news agency. They regularly published fake, misleading and slanted reports, which are widely carried by the media houses.