Dismissing opposition from broadcasters, the government is going ahead with its plan to introduce the controversial Broadcasting Bill in the Monsoon session of Parliament with an intra-ministerial group meeting tomorrow to give a final shape to the legislation.According to official sources, the group in the Information and Broadcasting ministry will examine the comments received from broadcasters on the Bill."The government will definitely introduce the Broadcasting Bill in the Monsoon session. There will not be any extension to this, the debate on the Bill has already been going around for last 10 years," they added."We have received comments from the broadcasters and the intra-ministerial meeting will give a final shape to the proposed content code and the Bill," sources said.The broadcasters had earlier said the time of 15 days given by the government to give feedback to the draft Bill and Content Code was not enough and asked for extension.Private media houses have raised concerns over the government's proposal on cross-media restrictions, self-regulation guidelines and content auditor.Sources, however, said the government is ready to have a re-look at the Broadcasting Bill if required."After examining the comments of broadcasters, we will make any changes in the draft if necessary," they said.On the issue of setting up an independent broadcasting regulator BRAI, sources said the watchdog would consult all broadcasters on important issues and there would not be any interference from the government.
