The Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, 1990

(1) This Act may be called the Prasar Bharati(Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, 1990. (2) It extends to the whole of India. (3) It shall come into force on such date 1as the Central Government may, by notification, appoint.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-- (a) "Akashvani" means the offices, stations and other establishments, by whatever name called,which, immediately before the appointed day, formed part of or were under the Director-General,All India Radio of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; (b) "appointed day" means the date appointed under section 3; (c) "broadcasting" means the dissemination of any form of communication like signs, signals,writing, pictures, images and sounds of all kinds by transmission of electro-magnetic waves throughspace or through cables intended to be received by the general public either directly or indirectlythrough the medium of relay stations and all its grammatical variations and cognate expressions shallbe construed accordingly; (d) "Board" means the Prasar Bharati Board; (e) "Broadcasting Council" means the Council established under section 14; (f) "Chairman" means the Chairman of the Corporation appointed under section 4; (g) "Corporation" means the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) established undersection 3; (h) "Doordarshan" means the offices, kendras and other establishments, by whatever name called,which, immediately before the appointed day, formed part of or were under the Directorate-General,Doordarshan of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting; (i) "elected Member" means a Member elected under section 3; (j) "Executive Member" means the Executive Member appointed under section 4; (k) "kendra" means any telecasting centre with studios or transmitters or both and includes a relaystation; (l) "Member" means a Member of the Board; (m) "Member (Finance)" means the Member (Finance) appointed under section 4; (n) "Member (Personnel)" means the Member (Personnel) appointed under section 4; (o) "Nominated Member" means the Member nominated by the Union Ministry of Informationand Broadcasting under section 3; (p) "Non-lapsable Fund" means the Fund created from the commercial revenues of Akashvaniand Doordarshan to meet expenditure on certain schemes; (q) "notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette; (r) "Part-time Member" means a Part-time Member of the Board appointed under section 4, butdoes not include an ex officio Member, the Nominated Member or an elected Member; (s) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (t) "Recruitment Board" means a board established under sub-section (1) of section 10; (u) "regulations" means regulations made by the Corporation under this Act; (v) "station" means any broadcasting station with studios or transmitters or both and includes arelay station; (w) "Whole-time Member" means the Executive Member, Member (Finance) orMember (Personnel); (x) "year" means the financial year.

(1) With effect from such date as the CentralGovernment may by notification appoint in this behalf, there shall be established for the purposes of thisAct a Corporation, to be known as the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India). (2) The Corporation shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid, having perpetual succession anda common seal with power to acquire,hold and dispose of property, both movable and immovable, and tocontract, and shall by the said name sue and be sued. (3) The headquarters of the Corporation shall be at New Delhi and the Corporation may establishoffices, kendras or stations at other places in India and, with the previous approval of the CentralGovernment,outside India. (4) The general superintendence, direction and management of the affairs of the Corporation shall vestin the Prasar Bharati Board which may exercise all such powers and do all such acts and things as may beexercised or done by the Corporation under this Act. (5) The Board shall consist of-- (a) a Chairman; (b) one Executive Member; (c) one Member(Finance); (d) one Member(Personnel); (e) six Part-time Members; (f) Director-General(Akashvani), ex officio; (g) Director-General (Doordarshan), ex officio; (h) one representative of the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, to be nominated bythat Ministry; and (i) two representatives of the employees of the Corporation, of whom one shall be elected by theengineering staff from amongst themselves and one shall be elected by the other employees fromamongst themselves. (6) The Corporation may appoint such committees as may be necessary for the efficient performance,exercise and discharge of its functions, powers and duties: Provided that all or a majority of the members of each committee shall be Members and a member ofany such committee who is not a Member shall have only the right to attend meetings of the committeeand take part in the proceedings thereof, but shall not have the right to vote. (7) The Corporation may associate with itself, in such manner and for such purposes as may beprovided by regulations, any person whoseassistance or advice it may need in complying with any of theprovisions of this Act and a person so associated shall have the right to take part in the discussions of theBoard relevant to the purposes of which he has been associated, but shall not have the right to vote. (8) No act or proceeding of the Board or of any committee appointed by it under sub-section (6) shallbe invalidated merely by reason of-- (a) any vacancy in, or any defect in the constitution of,the Board or such committee; or (b) any defect in the appointment of a person acting as a Member or a member of suchcommittee;or (c) any irregularity in the procedure of the Board or such committee not affecting the merits of thecase.

(1) The Chairman and the other Members,except the ex officio Members, the Nominated Member and the elected Members shall be appointed bythe President of India on the recommendation of a committee consisting of-- (a) the Chairman of the Council of States, who shall be the Chairman of the Committee; (b) the Chairman of the Press Council of India established under section 4 of the Press CouncilAct, 1978(37 of 1978); and (c) one nominee of the President of India. (2) No appointment of a Member shall be invalidated merely by reason of any vacancy in, or anydefect in the constitution of, the committee appointed under sub-section (1). (3) The Chairman and the Part-time Members shall be persons of eminence in public life; theExecutive Member shall be a person having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of suchmatters as administration, management, broadcasting, education, literature, culture, arts, music, dramaticsor journalism; the Member (Finance) shall be a person having special knowledge or practical experiencein respect of financial matters and the Member (Personnel) shall be a person having special knowledge orpractical experience in respect of personnel management and administration. (4) The recommendations made by the committee constituted under sub-section (1) shall be bindingfor the purposes of appointment under this section.

TheExecutive Member shall be the ChiefExecutive of the Corporation and shall,subject to the control and supervision of the Board, exercise suchpowers anddischarge such functions of the Board as it may delegate to him.