Information and Broadcasting Ministry backs Doordarshan ADG Kamaleshwar

Kamaleshwar: Difference of attitudeEvery sunday morning, a cherub-faced duo appear on the television screen in Delhi to answer your letters. The programme, slotted asAap Aur Hum, is invariably rounded off with paeans of praise sung to the "dynamic leadership" of Kamaleshwar, 48, the all powerful additional director-general of Doordarshan. In the 22-year-old history of telecasting in India, he is the only official to be publicly singled out as the "leader".However, since his appointment barely a year ago and virtually with the same power as that of the director-general, there has been no end to heartburns, intrigues, and silent warfare in the bureaucratic corridors of the Doordarshan headquarters in New Delhi. And the battle-line has been drawn with nearly all senior officials of Doordarshan on one side and Kamaleshwar, the wise man of the "idiot box", alone on the other side.Last fortnight, A.R. Shinde, a deputy director-general of Doordarshan holding a rank junior to Kamaleshwar, flouted all departmental norms to complain to Shailendra Shankar, the director-general, against the former about alleged financial irregularities. The charges, though of a purely technical nature, readily fell on responsive ears, and a departmental enquiry began.Free Hand: Exasperated by such pinpricks, Kamaleshwar recently met the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, Vasant Sathe, and offered to resign if he was not given a "free hand" to deal with his adversaries. The other condition he has imposed is the eventual shifting of the Doordarshan headquarters from New Delhi to Bombay.By all available indications, Sathe is willing to oblige Kamaleshwar by making him the director-general shortly, and arming him with unlimited authority to pick and choose his team. Even his other request, that of shifting the Doordarshan headquarters to Bombay, is being favourably considered.As a senior official in the Information and Broadcasting Ministry observed: "There is a point in Kamaleshwar's argument: after all, with the film industry located in Bombay, the Film and Television Institute in Pune, and the satellite station in Ahmedabad, it is Bombay rather than New Delhi which should be regarded as the natural nucleus of telecasting in India."Kamaleshwar's detractors obviously impute a motive in his efforts at shifting the headquarters, and they point at his "deep links" with the film industry in Bombay. Last year, when Sathe roped in Kamaleshwar, he was scripting and writing stories for over a dozen films.With money-spinners like Aandhi, Amanush, Mausam, Ram Balaram, and Pati Patni Aur Woh, under his belt, and with his proven flair for writing "psychological" stories for the commercial cinema, Kamaleshwar had to be coaxed to accept the job with Doordarshan. Long before that, he had already hit it big as a short-story writer in Hindi and had earned a following unmatched since Munshi Premchand (1880-1936) the father of Hindi short-stories. Apart from that, he had edited Sarika, the literary magazine of the Times of India chain, for 12 years till circumstances compelled him to resign the post in 1978. He was bitterly critical of the late Jaya Prakash Narayan in his his editorials, a fact which his management resented.Cult Figure: However, what made him into a cult figure of sorts in the TV circuit is his production of Parikrama, a weekly serial for the Bombay station which he started in 1972 as a casual producer. Witty, informative and down-to-earth, this serial on the life of the common man in Bombay was rated last year by a United Nations study team as among the five best serials made in the Third World.Last year, when Kamaleshwar stepped into Doordarshan, there was a clear understanding between him and the minister that he could continue with his "creative work" in Bombay. "It is Kamaleshwarji's politeness that he has agreed to join the TV. We don't want to put up obstacles to his creative work by any way," Sathe recently declared in Parliament in reply to a question.The entrenched bureaucracy of Doordarshan, however, was not impressed by this logic. As an official told India Today: "Last month, he made three trips to Bombay. Some time back, he was putting pressure on the directorate to screen a restrospective of the B.R. Chopra films, the only reason for it being the fact that he writes stories for B.R. Chopra. The procedure for selection of feature films to be shown on Doordarshan is highly questionable, Kamaleshwar himself having some axe to grind with either their financiers, or the producers or directors. He has turned Doordarshan into his private fief."However, the officials particularly resent the absolute power wielded by Kamaleshwar in parcelling out contracts for documentary films to outside producers. Though there is a central screening committee for documentary films, which is headed by the director-general, and comprises, among other officials, Kamaleshwar himself, it is well-known that the latter's decision is final in this regard.Blacklisted: His critics point out that as many as eight contracts were given this year to R.K. Mishra, a Lucknow based producer, and various firms controlled by him, even though he was blacklisted by a departmental committee three years ago.Mishra, who is a close relative of Rajendra Kumari Bajpai, an All India Congress (I) Committee general secretary, was given contracts worth Rs 7 lakh but has not produced "a single foot" of film in nine months. Still, 20 per cent of the amount was paid to him in advance.Among those who have been given contracts, there are such august names as Satyajit Ray, who is filming Sadgati, a Premchand story, Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Shanti Chowdhury. "But that's an eyewash", said an official, "the rest are dross. One fellow who has got a contract runs a lathe shop at Ghaziabad."Since the inception of Doordarshan it has been haunted by charges of corruption and nepotism. It was rampant even in the newsroom where staff cameramen were allowed an unheard-of 10 per cent wastage margin of raw stocks. In most cases, that much of raw stock allotted to each cameraman found its way into the blackmarket, or into the hands of newsclip stringers, many of whom, again, were benami operators for staffers themselves.Plugging Loopholes: In 1979, a committee comprising, among others, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, made a series of recommendations for plugging these loopholes. Following the committee's advice, the services of Doordarshan's 179 stringers were summarily terminated. Later on, only 38 were selected from amongst them, but a ceiling of Rs 5,000 was imposed on their annual volume of work.However, last year, supposedly on the suggestion of Kamaleshwar, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry intervened to throw open the floodgates to the stringers. "It was a correct decision", asserts Kamaleshwar, "because TV newsreading can serve no useful purpose if it is not backed up with adequate visuals. No TV system in the world can operate without the help of stringers bringing in visuals."But Doordarshan officials point out that following this decision corrupt stringers are back in business. Though the practice of allowing "wastage margin" of raw stocks has stopped, staffers who are keen to earn a fast buck can still draw stocks for months together without furnishing accounts.To support their contention, the officials maintain that over one lakh feet of silent and sound film are now shown as outstanding against the names of cameramen in Delhi Doordarshan Kendra alone. Taking all the 14 centres of Doordarshan into account, the "outstanding" stock, they calculate, should run into nearly 10 lakh feet.Indifference: However, corruption is so endemic in Doordarshan that it is not possible for any single person to clear the Augean stables. It is doubly difficult for Kamaleshwar in the face of what he describes as "icy indifference" of his senior colleagues.In a year's time, the Doordarshan authorities could not find a single deputy director-general to be posted exclusively for him. In his pigeon-hole of an office at Mandi House, tea has to be made in the toilet because there is no space.Kamaleshwar doggedly defends his selection of documentarists. "R.K. Mishra maybe a relative of Bajpai, or anybody, for that matter. But I can't ignore the fact that he has long years of theatre experience behind him. I can't close my eyes to his track record. And what difference does it make if a filmmaker also runs his business. In my career in the film industry, I have seen many a talented person falling into bad times when they can't but slog it out in various dull, uninteresting professions."Kamaleshwar's admirers in the maze of the Delhi Doordarshan Kendra's corridors include junior producers, artistes and programme executives who unanimously agree that he has brought in a whiff of fresh air in the sliflingly bureaucratic atmosphere of their organisation.They cite programmes like the weekly Aur Bhi Gham Hai Zamane Me, the personalised Aap Ke Liye every Sunday, and the new-look theatre productions, which are quite different from their predecessors in terms of subject and treatment."With some of my colleagues," says Kamaleshwar. "my differences are not just personal. It is a difference of attitudes. I believe that TV is an instrument of social change, which they don't."With the power of the entire Information and Broadcasting Ministry behind him, Kamaleshwar may soon by armed with some more immediate instruments of change, and then heads will roll at Doordarshan.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 4, 2013 11:37 IST--- ENDS ---

Download App

Get 37% off on an annual Print +Digital subscription of India Today Magazine

Information and Broadcasting Ministry backs Doordarshan ADG Kamaleshwar

However, since his appointment barely a year ago and virtually with the same power as that of the director-general, there has been no end to heartburns, intrigues, and silent warfare in the bureaucratic corridors of the Doordarshan headquarters in New Delhi.

PUBLICATIONS

TELEVISION

EVENTS

RADIO

GAMING

USEFUL LINKS

PRINTING

WELFARE

DISTRIBUTION

SYNDICATIONS

WEBSITES

EDUCATION