Former bureaucrat and author of a report on Prasar Bharati, Nitish Sengupta, is the frontrunner for the post of chairman of the broadcast board. Another name being mentioned in BJP circles is of columnist M V Kamath.
The three-member Prasar Bharati selection committee is likely to meet this week to shortlist candidates for various posts lying vacant, including the chief executive's.
According to a cabinet minister, the government feels a former bureaucrat would be best suited for the CEO's post. "In this connection, several names have been mentioned, but those are smokescreens," the minister said, adding that the CEO choice would take "most by surprise".
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Discovery India's chief Kiran Karnik's name was earlier being mentioned for the post. Thought to be a good choice for his past experience in the University Grants Commission(UGC) and Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), Karnik, however, has been having "second thoughts as the scenario has changed since the time he was sounded out and feels there will be too much political interference".
Karnik was sounded out by senior functionaries in the BJP and the government "informally" for the CEO's post about six weeks ago. "Since then, the situation at Prasar Bharati has changed with the promulgation of the ordinance, and Karnik is not very enthusiastic now," a BJP leader said.
The ordinance restores the original Prasar Bharati Act, 1990, which revives a 22-MP panel to oversee the activities of Prasar Bharati and the Broadcasting Council of India (BCI). BCI will have at least four politicians on its board.
Information and broadcasting minister Sushma Swaraj is on record as saying that the government prefers a neutral person as CEO of Prasar Bharati.