In what would provide respite to employees at Prasar Bharati, the government on Tuesday approved amendments to the law governing the public broadcaster, making it clear that recruitments done during a 10-year period from November 1997 to October 2007 will be considered as “deemed deputation” till retirement.
“This will make the status of employees recruited between November 23, 1997 and October 5, 2007 — they are on deemed deputation to Prasar Bharati till their retirement — absolutely clear and unambiguous,” an official statement said.
The specified posts are officers and employees of the Indian Information Service, the Central Secretariat Service or any cadre outside Akashvani and Doordarshan, but connected to Prasar Bharati.
The employees under this category were apprehensive about their promotional prospects, especially in relation to those who were directly recruited for Prasar Bharati.
The Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in August last year. It was subsequently referred to the Standing Committee, which has since submitted its report.
The committee had sought addressing the concerns of the employees about their promotional prospects.
Also, it had recommended that the recruitment rules and service conditions of employees of Prasar Bharati should make it “absolutely clear” that the employees on deemed deputation are senior to Prasar Bharati employees and it would not affect their promotional prospects.