MUMBAI: The government is engaged in finetuning the process of certification of films and developing a content code. The changes, to be incorporated in the Broadcasting Regulation Bill, will ensure that decisions made by the regulator are objective and non-discretionary, informed Information & Broadcasting secretary S K Arora.
Arora was in Mumbai for FICCI-FRAMES, where he spoke on the ‘Regulatory Framework for the Entertainment Industry.’
He said the committee on content had laid down “dont’s” and “taboos” and had classified the contents into nine themes, each of which have been vetted for subject matter treatment and audio-visual categorization.
The content code would be uploaded in the ministry’s website for feedback from the stakeholders, Arora said, adding, “Once the content code and certification guidelines are finalized, all content providers will expected to carry out content auditing to ensure that content conforms to the guidelines.”
Speaking about the growth of the radio industry, the I&B secretary said the Phase II FM radio policy formulated last year had been a resounding success with over 60 radio stations going on stream in the last three months. In the next few months, over 300 stations are expected to spring up across 90 cities and “we hope that by year-end all the 50-odd pending frequencies will be functional.”
Arora said the community radio policy has been liberalized, allowing NGOs and civil society to set up radio stations. “The groundswell of demand was such that in the next few years, hundreds, if not thousands of community radios will come up. This will undoubtedly become one of the staunchest pillars of Indian democracy,” Arora pointed out.
