19 May 2004	Wednesday	28 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, May 18: The chairman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, Mian Muhammed Javed, said that cable operators can approach the private members of the authority for redressing of their grievances.

He was speaking as chief guest at a seminar on "Electronic Media - Challenges and Prospects," organized by PEMRA at a local hotel on Tuesday. The speakers, including Nazim F Haji, Commissioner of Complaints, PEMRA, Mohammed Akbar, DIG (Investigation), Aamir Ansari, Media Consultant and Khalid Shaikh, Chairman Cable Operators Association Pakistan, spoke on various related issues including intellectual property rights, making the PEMRA Ordinance customer-friendly, laws against cutting of cables, police attitude, registration of linemen, legal screening of channels and checks on obscene movies etc.

Replying to questions, Mian Javed said that attention was being focussed on providing training to those who were operating cable systems. He observed that the need for such training in the field of electronic media was felt in 2002, when a decision was taken for its liberalisation.

He said the Pemra was collaborating with various varsities and technical institutions in this regard to overcome the shortcomings being felt now with the expansion and modernization of cable network.

He made it clear that the Pemra was only a regulatory authority, but it was providing guidance to cable operators through an Urdu monthly letter, which was sent to the licensed operators.

Through this letter, the operators were guided on various issues like quality of cables and equipment to be used etc, he added. On the issue that what channels cable operators should show to their customers, Mian Javed said that presently there were 16 Urdu channels available, besides some free channels, which could form a good package to be presented to the viewers.

He told the cable operators that the Pemra's list of channels should not be taken as final, inviting them to name the channels they wanted to add to the list and promised that the Pemra would do it.

When asked what action Pemra took against showing of obscene films, Mian Javed said that it was a moral responsibility of the viewers to bring such instances to the notice of the Commission of Complaints for action.

On the occasion, Commissioner of Complaints, Nazim F Haji, told the cable operators to contact the commission for resolution of their grievances and problems. "We will extend full cooperation and help you out," he assured the operators. -APP