Staff Reporter
A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting was held under the chairmanship of Senator Faisal Javaid at PTV Headquarters.
MD PTV and Secretary Information and Broadcasting briefed the committee on the matter in detail.
Secretary Information and Broadcasting assured that the matter would be resolved at the earliest.
Senator Irfan Siddiqui raised the question as to why agreements are being signed with the private party to produce films and dramas despite PTV having all the resources.
MD PTV informed the committee that due to some unavoidable reasons and lack of modern technology, private firms are being roped in for such ventures.
Informing the committee, MD PTV said that in the last two years, PTV has moved from deficit and is being transformed into a profitable organization.
Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar asked MD PTV that the issue between the private company and PTV should be resolved through arbitration if possible.
The committee was briefed in detail about the work and performance of PTV. Regarding the budget and work of PTV, MD PTV said that PTV has managed to increase its annual revenue to Rupees 11 Billion. Of which annual expenditure is about Rs. 7 to 8 billion. MD PTV informed in detail about the digitization of PTV broadcasts and said that PTV broadcasts will be fully digitalized by December this year.
Informing the committee about shifting the broadcasts to HD quality, he said that PTV broadcasts on analogy of private sector will be presented in HD quality as soon as possible.
Chairman Committee, Senator Faisal Javed, while seeking clarification regarding the introduction of PTV broadcasts to the public through digital and social media, expressed displeasure over the unnecessary delays in the process.
MD PTV told the committee that no investment has been made in the last 15 years for provision of modern technology to PTV and we are trying to make PTV a world class organization with minimum budget so that PTV can be transformed into voice of the nation internationally The Chairman Committee directed the concerned officers to present a comprehensive plan for digitization of PTV at the next meeting of the Committee.
Chairman Committee Senator Faisal Javaid while seeking details of the recommendations during the previous meetings of the committee and their implementation said that we should be informed to what extent the previous recommendations of the committee have been implemented so far.
Senator Aun Abbas asked MD PTV about the assets of the national institution across the country.
On which Chairman Committee Senator Faisal Javed issued instructions to present the details of all assets of the institution in the next meeting of the committee.
