The soon to be vacant post of secretary, information and broadcasting (I&B) ministry seems to have found a?suitor ?in Raghu Menon, former CMD Air India and ex special secretary, civil aviation?who, according to official sources is all set to join on June 1.
Menon, a 1974 batch IAS of Nagaland cadre would succeed the present secretary Sushma Singh who retires on the last day of this month. For Menon, I&B is not an unfamiliar territory as he has earlier served three stints in the?I&B ministry . For the first time in?1993-94 followed by the second stint in the capacity of joint secretary between 1994-1999 and finally as an additional secy in 2006.
The new I&B secretary would have his hands full with scores of unresolved issues waiting for him in the ministry.The issue of third round of FM radio expansion, wherein over 700 FM station licences in 210 cities and towns (majority of which lying in tier II and tier III towns) are to auctioned needs to sorted out.
Making the issue cumbersome is the unresolved tussle between music industry and the FM radio players on the amount and form of royalty. Other major issues pending in the ministry include a final decision on the hike in FDI in cable networks, DTH and a host of other carriage platforms, as well as the roll out of conditional access system. The policy in areas like television rating points and restructuring of cable services, other than cross media restrictions also need firming up. Recommendation on the above have already been sent by the broadcast regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to I&B? .
The highlight of? Singh?s tenure was clearance of policy guidelines for Internet Protocol? Television and allowing 100% FDI in facsimile edition of foreign magazines and newspapers. Although the ministry tried to intervene and mediate between the FM players and music industry, it failed to make much progress on that front.