ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 20th Sep, 2024) The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting Friday directed for taking extensive steps to revive the past glory and grandeur of Pakistan Television (PTV).
The committee, which was presided over by Waja Pullain Baloch, suggested for optimum utilization of the PTV’s present infrastructure and human resource for making it a profitable entity.
It was of the view that the revival of PTV’s glory was need of the hour without losing its status of a family channel and conforming it with the present trends.
The committee said that the ptv had an immense human resource potential and state of the art infrastructure which could be utilized to regain its former status.
The panel also suggested for a dedicated educational channel as the experiment of imparting education through the PTV during COVID-19 pandemic had proved to be successful.
The committee directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and the Press Information Department (PID) to aggressively pursue the issue of payment of salaries/outstanding dues to the media workers.
Apprising about the compliance of the previous recommendations of the committee regarding appointment of regular heads of the PTV and Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, the Secretary Information said that the process would be accomplished after the reconstitution of boards of the two organizations, which were expected to be notified within days.
The people from a cross-section of the society had been shortlisted for inclusion in the two boards, she added.
The PTV’s Acting Managing Director gave an exhaustive presentation on the existing human resource (HR), financial health, marketing strategy and the production activities of the organization.
He informed the committee that considering the need for revamping and modernization of the state-owned telecaster, the present government initiated a series of measures that included induction of anchors from private sector, investing in modern production equipment, developing digital infrastructure, besides content modernization.
A financial strategy had been devised that included revamping the existing one to attract advertisements on competitive rates, exploring partnerships for production, implementing budget control measures and reduction in operation cost, he added.
Regarding revamping of the human resource, the PTV managing director said that focus would be paid on training the personnel in cutting edge broadcast technologies, content creation and management to foster innovation and bring in talented creative youth.
The committee members observed that the PTV was in dire need of transformation bringing it at par with the latest trends to cater the needs of its viewers.
They stressed that the expertise and intellect should be considered while hiring of the human resource. They also suggested for pooling up of resources of government media organizations to reduce burden on the national exchequer.
The committee asked for provision of details of packages being offered to the anchors hired from the private sector, besides those of the human resource, infrastructure and logistics at all PTV stations.
It directed for following a strict merit policy for hiring and promotions in the PTV. It was also decided for a comprehensive presentation on its marketing strategy in the committee’s next meeting.
The meeting was attended by Members of the National Assembly Muhammad Hanif Abbasi, Kiran Imran Dar, Mehtab Akbar Rashdi, Sharmila Sahiba Faruqui Hashaam, Sehar Kamran, Syed Amin Ul Haque, Muhammad Miqdad Ali Khan, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Hyderi and Parliamentary Secretary for Information & Broadcasting Barrister Daniyal Chaudhry, Principal Information Officer (PIO), PBC Director General, PEMRA Chairman and officers of the departments concerned.
