ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting on Monday expressed “serious concerns” over the hiring of 53 new employees by the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) on a daily-wage basis without following any discernible selection criteria as several discrepancies and anomalies were identified in the list of these workers.

The director general of the PBC highlighted an acute shortage of manpower in the IT section, justifying the engagement of these individuals as unskilled or semi-skilled workers on a daily-wage booking basis in line with the government’s wage policy.

However, the committee members raised significant queries regarding the selection process and requested the secretary of the ministry to form a committee to thoroughly investigate these 53 cases.

The secretary, according to an official handout, committed to reviewing these cases and reporting back to the committee. Furthermore, no new hiring on a daily-wage basis will take place in the PBC until this issue is resolved, the committee directed the ministry.

Receives briefing on ad distribution mechanism, rating systems and criteria for electronic, print media

The meeting of the committee was presided over by its chairperson Senator Fawzia Arshad.

The information secretary provided a compliance report on the recommendations made during the committee’s previous meeting held on September 6, concerning the leasing of PBC’s land to Pakistan Security Printing Corporation, a subsidiary of the State Bank of Pakistan, stating that ongoing negotiations are expected to yield a resolution in the coming days.

The panel stressed the importance of regular updates from the ministry regarding this matter in each committee meeting until it was resolved.

The panel was also briefed on ad distribution mechanisms, rating systems and criteria for electronic and print media. The committee identified certain discrepancies in the details submitted by the ministry and decided to revisit the matter in the subsequent meeting.

In response to a question, officials from the Press Information Department (PID) informed the committee that 450 federal government organisations advertised through the PID and rates were determined by assessing viewership of specific TV channels.

The committee suggested establishing a transparent mechanism for ad distribution and forming an impartial board to oversee the process, ensuring unbiased ad distribution.

Furthermore, the committee chairperson highlighted concerns about advertisements in print media that promoted immoral or unethical practices, such as ghostwriting for candidates/writers, which undermined the principles of merit.

The committee also raised inquiries regarding the role and function of the Press Council of Pakistan (PCP) and the National Press Trust (NPT).

The secretary informed the committee that the PCP currently lacked a chairperson, rendering it ineffective. A proposal for the appointment of a PCP chairperson had been submitted to the president.

The committee emphasised the need for new acts or amendments to enhance the effectiveness of the PCP.

Additionally, Senator Irfan Siddiqui of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) raised concerns about the non-functionality of the NPT and requested a detailed briefing on its structure, role and functions at the next meeting.

The acting chairman of NPT stated that the trust had been operating without its chairman since 2019, oversaw nine properties and had approximately 23 employees stationed in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and Multan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) chairman briefed the panel on Pemra’s policy and role in discouraging drama content that was detrimental to society.

He clarified that Pemra did not have a pre-censorship policy and highlighted the longstanding dysfunction of the Council of Complaints, the primary body overseeing drama content.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2023