ISLAMABAD, April 8: Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting on Tuesday asked the ministry to make efforts for giving fair and objective coverage to all political parties on the state-owned media.

The committee which met at the Parliament House under the chairmanship of Senator Liaquat Ali Bangulzai discussed the recruitments made in the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) during last five years. The committee underlined the need for adopting strict merit policy while making appointments at different levels in the PBC.

Senator Bangulzai called for introducing changes in Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) laws with a view to lift curbs on electronic media. He said media should uphold true Islamic values and refrain from airing anything that was against Islamic principles or the ideology of Pakistan.

He pointed out that the issue of non-implementation of the wage board award needed proper consideration by taking all the stakeholders into confidence.

The committee expressed its concern over the indiscriminate appointments made in the PBC despite the fact that the organisation was facing a budget deficit.

It underlined the need for introducing more transparency in appointments and inducting professional people who could better project the country’s image.

Director General PBC Javed Akhtar said policy guidelines of the government had been followed for recruitments during the last five years and appointments were made on the basis of provincial and regional quotas. He said 556 recruitments were made in PBC from 2003-2007. The PBC received a lump-sum amount from the government and no separate allocation for recruitment was made in the budget.

He said Rs1,969 millions were allocated for the purpose in 2007-2008 and there was a deficit of Rs433 million due to which the recruitment process had been held in abeyance.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman agreed with the members of the committee that more efforts were required to make PBC a productive organisation reflecting the wishes and aspirations of the people.

She said performance of the PBC was being reviewed and more transparency would be introduced to make it a more viable organisation.—APP