Sangh man Sachidananda Joshi leads IIMC chief race

NEW DELHI: Former vice-chancellor of the Kushabhau Thakre University of Journalism & Mass Communication in Raipur, Sachidananda Joshi, is one of the front-runners for the post of director-general of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication.

Appointed by the BJP government in Chhattisgarh, he has the backing of the Sangh, according to sources.

The information and broadcasting ministry shortlist of 15 includes senior consulting editor of Doordarshan, KG Suresh, an expert speaker on Swami Vivekananda, spokesperson of defence ministry, Sitanshu Kar, additional director-general of news in Doordarshan, Akshay Rout, former VC of Patna University, Shambunath Singh and additional director-general in Prasar Bharati, Mukesh Sharma.

A selection committee comprising I&B secretary Sunil Arora and journalists Swapan Dasgupta and Rajat Sharma will take a final call, said officials. The government was not keen on continuing with Sunit Tandon, the current director-general, but after recent controversies on appointments chose to let him stay. Tandon's tenure would end in November and the ministry started the process of finding a new head in July. Its ad for the post received 55 responses.

The tenure of IIMC DG is three years and can be extended by another two years.