Veena Jain may stay DD (News) Director General, decision taken by I&B minister Arun Jaitley

NEW DELHI: A review of the appointment of Doordarshan (News) director general, Veena Jain, may not happen despite Prasar Bharati officials asking for it.

Jain was appointed as DG DD (News) and OSD (social media) recently, which had led to speculations if the ministry was taking over Doordarshan. The earlier order said Jain would report to the ministry for all purposes. But it is being reworked to clarify that Jain, an IIS officer, will report to Prasar Bharati for DD news.

The call was taken by I&B minister Arun Jaitley in a meeting on Wednesday. "There are systems in government and procedures that cannot be changed. Altering the appointment would lead to dissent in the Indian Information Service (IIS) cadre and, hence, the minister said no principle of appointment would be flouted and the orders would be implemented," an official said. He added that Jain had been promoted on grounds of merit and it would be improper to shift her to other departments after finalising her appointment.

Senior officials in Prasar Bharati are said to have been miffed at the appointment of Jain without consulting them. Jain, as per sources, had not attended prime time news meetings since she had joined.

Prasar Bharati chairman A Surya Prakash is said to have spoken to Jaitley on Monday to talk about the issues of Prasar Bharati’s autonomy. It is understood that Prakash had asked for more consultation with the ministry in matters related to appointments. The officials had also raised objection over the fact that the order of Jain was not endorsed by them, thereby violating the spirit of the Prasar Bharati Act.

MIB officials said appointments of DGs have never been endorsed even in the past. "Even the recent appointment of Akshay Rout as ADG DD news was not endorsed," an official said, adding that most appointments of DGs were not endorsed.

The new order would be sent to Prasar Bharati, the official said.