Navneet Sehgal, former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre has been appointed as Chairperson of Prasar Bharati, the country's public broadcaster, for a term of three years or until he attains the age of seventy years, whichever is earlier.
The Prasar Bharati Chairman's post has been vacant since A. Surya Prakash completed his tenure in February 2020.
The timing of appointment of Navneet Sehgal is important as the country goes for general elections. The coverage of Doordarshan and Akashwani will be crucial in this elections when the ruling BJP is betting big on winning 400 plus seats along with its allies.
Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, headed the selection panel for the post of Prasar Bharati Chairman. The chairperson of the Press Council of India and a nominee of the President complete the three-member panel.
Who is Navneet Sehgal?
Navneet Sehgal is a 1988 batch IAS officer, who was superannuated on July 31, 2024. He has a rare distinction of being the ‘Man Friday' of all the three chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh – Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav and Yogi Adityanath– who had been at the helm over last 16 years.
He has the capability to perform impossible tasks with great ease and that makes him the favourite of all chief ministers he had worked with.
What is Prasar Bharati?
Prasar Bharati Board, is a statutory autonomous body set up by an Act of parliament and comprises the Doordarshan Television Broadcasting and Akashvani (formerly All India Radio AIR), which were earlier media units of the ministry of Information and Broadcast.
The parliament passed the Prasar Bharati Act to grant this autonomy in 1990, but it was not enacted until 15 September 1997.
Gaurav Dwivedi, a 1995-batch IAS of Chhattisgarh cadre is the chief executive officer of Prasar Bharati.
Ram Kumar Kaushik is a seasoned journalist with over 25 years of experience across mediums. The architect of this news website, he is also a consultant with several media groups. He was formerly the group managing editor of ITV Network (NewsX, India News and The Sunday Guardian) and its digital products.
