Black-badge protest awaits Dir DD Kashir at SKICC

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Mar 13: Over 200 freelance television producers, based in Kashmir and Jammu are planning to greet Senior Director of Kashir Channel (DD Kashir), Ananya Banerjee, with a black-badge protest over bunglings and brazen violation of guidelines in allotment of the commissioned programmes for 2009-10. Ms Banerjee is scheduled to participate in finale and prize distribution ceremony of DD Kashir’s musical competition ‘Milay Surr’ at SKICC here on March 15th.

Informed sources said that the aggrieved producers, whose proposals have been either fully rejected or slashed to peanuts of two to four episodes to accommodate more than 50 ineligible applicants, have decided to register their protest with black badges on their arms, placards and slogans. Since the allotments were made in October 2009, these aggrieved producers---who include veteran artists, directors, producers and script writers---have been complaining of wanton irregularities in the commissioning process but failed to get any redressal of their grievances.

In scores of representations to senior state and central government functionaries, the aggrieved producers have pointed out largescale violation of DD’s guidelines like allotment of programmes to more than 30 regular government officials, some regular employees of Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar, over two dozen employees of state and central governments who have failed to produce proof of the acceptance of their resignations by competent authority before commencement of the process for empanelment of producers, allotment of 13 episodes of drama serials and non-fiction series without taking the mandatory pilot episode from the allottee producers, allotment of programmes in favour of two to four members of over a dozen families, allotment of highest number of programmes (13 episodes each) to first-timers who were in regular government service until recently and had not requisite experience in the field, rejection of the proposals of high merit producers or reduction of their allotted programmes to just two to four episodes, allotment of 6 to 13 episodes to over 100 people who are completely unknown and anonymous in the community of television producers in Jammu & Kashmir besides allotment of programmes to at least one elected legislator and an elected corporator of Srinagar Municipal Corporation.

Rather than showing any concern for redressal of their grievances, DD authorities at Mandi House in New Delhi have begun to approve scripts and release advance payment in favour of the allottee producers in a high-handed manner.

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