Tripura House trains guns on local DD chief

AGARTALA, July 19: Members of the Tripura Assembly today condemned Agartala Doordarshan Kendra station director VN Jauhuri for challenging the authority of the House. The members resolved to send a letter to the Union information and broadcasting ministry enclosing a copy of Jauhuri's letter to the secretary of the state Assembly. Jauhuri has come under fire for allotting programmes to a religious organisation, bending government rules, and favouritism. Information minister Jiten Chowdhury read out a transcript of the letter on the floor of the House. In the letter, Jauhuri said Agartala Doordarshan Kendra is a station under the Prasar Bharati Corporation and not under any ministry of the state government. Any question relating to the functioning of the station can be raised only by the Prasar Bharati or by Parliament. For official programmes, the director is answerable only to higher authorities in the Prasar Bharati, the letter dated July 18 added. Speaker Jiten Sarkar admitted two motions in the House on a Hindu religious organisation chief taking money from the Agartala Doordarshan Kendra and on the roles of Doordarshan and All India Radio in strengthening ethnic peace and harmony. Condemning Jauhuri's letter as being tantamount to undermining the authority of the Assembly, information minister Chowdhury said the director was regularly dishonouring the state government's invitations to important meetings. He sent his deputies to attend such meetings, he added. Chief Minister Manik Sarkar proposed that a letter on behalf of the Assembly would be sent to the Union information and broadcasting ministry and the Prasar Bharati Corporation. Terming the Agartala Doordarshan director's behaviour as "unprecedented", the information minister said all Union government departments, including the telecom and railways, furnish replies to the state Assembly. Chowdhury appreciated the role played by All India Radio to ease ethnic tension and violence by doing special programmes in consultation with the state government.