I&B min released Rs 208 cr for salaries on Feb 28: Prasar Bharati CEO

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry released Rs 208 crore for the salaries of the employees of Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) on February 28, Prasar Bharati CEO S S Vempati said today. Vempati's remarks came two days after news webite 'The Wire' quoted Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash as saying that the public broadcaster had to pay staff salaries for January and February out of its contingency funds as the ministry had not released the funds.

The Wire had claimed that the delay in release of funds was due to alleged standoff between the Prasar Bharati and the I&B ministry.

Reacting to the news report, the I&B ministry had issued a statement saying that the Prasar Bharati had not signed an MoU with it as required by autonomous bodies getting grants-in-aid by the government.

Vempati today tweeted, "Noticed reports in sections of media on non-disbursal of salaries to DD & AIR staff. Rs 208 cr towards salaries were released on the 28th Feb 2018.? Attempts to create panic malafide. PB has so far received Rs 1989 crores from MIB as grants-in-aid for salaries during FY2017-18,".

However, the tweet did not specify the month for which the funds meant for salaries was disbursed by the government.

The Prasar Bharati is an autonomous body that runs Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR) but receives grant from the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry.