Prasar Bharati’s Assistant Director of Programme R Vasumathi has been suspended for failing to telecast live a speech Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered at the Singapore-India Hackathon 2019.
Prasar Bharati is India's public broadcaster service that includes Doordarshan.
Singapore-India Hackathon 2019 was held at IIT Madras's research centre in Chennai on September 30.
According to The News Minute, the order given to Vasumathi, however, does not explicitly state the reason for her suspension. It merely conveys that a disciplinary hearing has been initiated against the programme director and while it is underway she will be placed under suspension as per the Central Civil Services Rules (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965. It has been signed by the Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharathi, Shashi Shekhar Vempati.
"This was a case of wilful insubordination. She failed to telecast the speech live despite having been instructed to do so explicitly," a source in Prasar Bharathi told TNM.
The Prime Minister's office had enquired on September 30 as to why the speech had not been telecast live but was carried as a 'news item' in the bulletin.
When asked if such a suspension was a harsh reaction, the source said that the “government does not look at suspension as a punishment, and this is part of a process as the inquiry goes on”, reported TNM.
