Dear Mr Rathore, here's how you can transform India's media industry

Can the man in charge at the I&B ministry take some decisions to facilitate the growth of Indian media and entertainment?

Dear Mr (Rajyavardhan) Rathore,

Last week you became minister of state (independent charge) at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB). Effectively that puts you in charge of the ministry where you have been Minister of State for almost four years. You have seen as many ministers in that time starting with Prakash Javadekar, Arun Jaitley, Venkaiah Naidu and lastly Smriti Irani. You are also, by now, familiar with the issues the MIB faces. 

This note is the usual appeal this column makes of any new person who comes into power at the MIB. It is done in the perennial hope that some day, some minister will realise the employment and tax generating, GDP and soft power enhancing power of the Rs 1,473 billion Indian media and entertainment industry. (Missing the big picture, Business Standard, April 25)

As you know, in the last 10 years, only two decisions have been made by the ministry. The first was mandating the digitisation of cable in 2011 and the second was the auctioning of radio spectrum in small-town India in 2015. We could debate their implementation or success but across business analysts and the industry there is little doubt about one thing — they were good decisions with the intent of facilitating growth for the industry and choice for consumers. 

There are dozens more which could help build a healthier, more profitable media and entertainment industry that is an engine for informing and entertaining the world’s largest democracy. Here is a sample. 

One, free up Doordarshan completely. Cut the rotting umbilical cord that ties its holding body Prasar Bharati to the state administratively and financially. This has been recommended by several committees. Doing it could facilitate Doordarshan’s growth as a world-class news organisation, a la the BBC. It is a tough one. But if India has even one single not-for-profit news organisation that can invest in news collection, reportage and editing, is truly objective and independent then we have some chance of saving its battered news industry and the mind of Indians consuming junk in the name of news. The presence of a BBC irritates private broadcasters and newspapers no end in the UK because it holds them to higher standards of reportage and forces them to be as non-partisan as possible. No government dares to mess with the BBC because they are afraid the next government will get the benefit of a partisan state broadcaster. And it is a huge symbol of Britain’s soft power and influence globally. Doordarshan can aim to be that for India, but only if it is truly autonomous. 

Two, work with other relevant ministries to work out a one-window clearance policy for the opening of new cinema screens. It takes anything from six months to two years to get a licence for a new screen in a country that is pathetically short of them. In fact, make the building of broadband and screens an infrastructure industry with the same benefits. This will speed up the creation of a communications infrastructure, generate millions in jobs and taxes and improve the profitability of three industries — film, TV and the internet. 

Three, move to create an over-arching FCC or Ofcom kind of body for the Indian media and entertainment industry, doing away with the multitude of bodies such as the Trai that handle bits and pieces of policy, regulation and its execution. Maybe you could get some of the top media lawyers to look at such bodies across the world, work on a local version with industry, consumer bodies and other interested parties. It may take a few years but an ‘independent of the government’ body could work wonders at making the industry realise its potential. 

Many argue that you are likely to be cautious in the run up to the general elections in 2019. This column reckons you don’t have anything to lose. That if you take even one of these decisions it will have significant impact on the world’s second largest TV market, the largest film producing country and the fastest growing internet market. And you could leave a lasting legacy, like Sushma Swaraj did by granting industry status to films in 2000 or Ambika Soni did by pushing digitisation through. 

Do please think about it

Look forward to hearing from you.

With regards

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