The bill to integrate Radio Nepal and Nepal Television has moved forward

The bill, which originated in the National Assembly, was received by the House of Representatives on 080 Baisakh 15 in committee for quarterly discussion. Earlier, there was a difference of opinion between the government and parliamentarians on the bill that was proposed to convert the two government media, Radio Nepal and Nepal Television, into a national public service broadcasting. Mainly, the parliamentarians were concerned about the fact that the government should not have direct control over the leadership and process of the council that will be formed after the merger of the two government media organizations. A sub-committee was also formed under the technology committee last May to find a solution to some of the provisions of the

bill. The sub-committee submitted a report to the committee on July 31 after discussing the pending items in the committee. The report was discussed in the committee and the bill was passed on Sunday. However, National Independent Party MP and former minister Sumana Shrestha has a different opinion regarding the chairman of the council being the representative of the government.

MP Shrestha says that there should be independent leadership in the council to ensure fair information flow. "As long as the government is headed by the council, there will be no fair news," she said, "if the council is headed by an independent person, the same person can make the necessary fair arrangements." It is proposed that the Minister of Communication and Information Technology or the Minister of State will be the chairman of the council that will be formed to give instructions.

In the matter of the coordinator of the committee to be formed to recommend the appointment after selecting the chairman and members of the council, there was agreement on the proposal to be the chairman or member of the Public Service Commission. Although there is no recommendation committee in the original bill, regarding the committee added by the National Assembly, Minister of Communications Gurung was of the opinion that it would be easier if there was no new structure as in the draft.

Minister Gurung expressed the opinion that the government broadcasting organizations are not able to provide good service and cannot compete and they should be restructured. "Even though they were established with a different environment and purpose during the Panchayat period, it is now necessary for government communication organizations to become competitive and financially capable," he said.

The chairman of the committee, Amber Bahadur Thapa, said that the bill, which was stalled due to differences on some issues, will now move forward. He instructed the secretaries of the Ministry of Information and Communication, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the Parliament Secretariat to prepare a report on the bill by adjusting the legal language. MP Shrestha disagreed when he said that he had reached an agreement on the matter of the council. In the

meeting, the management of employees of Radio Nepal and Nepal Television was also discussed. MPs Devendra Paudel, Prabhu Hazara, Chavi Lal Vishwakarma, Dig Bahadur Limbu, Chandrakant Bhandari, Ram Prakash Chaudhary, Deepa Sharma and others participated in the discussion on the bill.