Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati’s decision to sign a two-year contract with Delhi-based news agency Hindusthan Samachar for providing news content to Doordarshan and All India Radio has drawn criticism from the Opposition parties who have pointed to the news agency’s links with right-wing outfits.
Hindustan Samachar was set up in 1948 by Shivram Shankar Apte, the first general secretary of the RSS-affiliate Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar, who was the CEO of Prasar Bharati from 2012 to 2016, under the UPA government, said, “Finally. Best to merge Prasar Bharti and BJP.”
CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury tweeted, “DD & AIR will exclusively broadcast as ‘news’ only the content fed by RSS!”
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan termed the development an attempt to “saffronise” news and silence dissent and said that all “secular and democratic forces” must unite to “resist such communal schemes”.
Meanwhile, the state secretary of the Telangana Youth Congress, Ramshetty Vishnu questioned the move and asked, “Where do you live? India or North Korea?”
Prasar Bharti, under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, cancelled its subscription of news agency Press Trust of India (PTI) in 2020. It signed an agreement with Hindustan Samachar in 2020, reported The Indian Express.
Gaurav Dwivedi, Prasar Bharti CEO, said that Hindustan Samachar is the only wire service that offers content in multiple Indian languages, while others are only bilingual.