Blue cheese and public service
24 May 2012 5:04 PM IST
Jawhar Sircar is a relieved man these days. The civil servant, who claims he can live off blue cheese, has managed to untangle two important knots that had been bothering Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) for years now. For one, he has managed to solve a problem that had been dogging the public service broadcaster for 10 years.
So now, Prasar Bharati has finally officially been exempt from paying income tax, a privilege that was given to it when it started and then suddenly taken away. ‘When Prasar Bharati came up as a public service broadcaster it was meant to be an autonomous body at a little distance from the government and carry out Â
functions assigned to the Information & Broadcasting Ministry in coordinating Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR). It is a public service body because the work is not like normal private channels,’ he says.
‘While a private channel, for example, would report a crime in the manner is which it needs to be presented and could be sensationalising an issue. On the other hand a public service broadcaster needs to harp on penalty, punishment and retribution so as to send a warning down the line,’ Sircar explains.
So for this, he says, the organisation needs to travel along ‘unprofitable routes’ and ‘incur losses’. If it went on the profit mode then it would contradict its role, he further states.
So when Prasar Bharati was set up the original act (Section 22) stated that the public service broadcaster was exempt from taxes. But the facility was taken away almost overnight within 4-5 years.
‘That meant nearly 600 offices of Doordarshan and AIR became exposed to questions regarding income and taxation. End of the day, we might not have had to pay taxes, but went through the entire rigmarole to prove that we don't have to pay taxes. And all this, at public expense,’ he explains.
‘This has been sorted out just seven days back thanks to [P Chidambaram] and I&B minister [Ambika Soni]. The Group of Ministers had also recommended the same,’ says an ecstatic Sircar, who took over as Prasar Bharati CEO in late February.
And how did he manage this? ‘Well, by packaging the logic in a way you can't refuse,’ he says, laughing, sitting in his Parliament Street office.
An ex-student of St Xavier’s School, Kolkata and a Presidency College alumnus, Sircar has had a long stint with the government. He joined the Indian Administrative Services in 1975 in West Bengal and has served several roles including the Director of Industries. He also helped set up the Food Processing Industries Department in the state and then moved to the Finance Department as Special Secretary. He is also the youngest Principal Secretary of Commerce & Industries Department in the state. Â
Sircar joined the Goverment of India (GOI) as Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises on May 2006 and was promoted as Secretary to GOI in September 2008 and then moved to head the Ministry of Culture. In his new role, Sircar plans to turn around Prasar Bharati. He has managed to get the nod to set up the Prasar Bharati recruitment Board which means that the organisation, where hiring had virtually come to a standstill in the last 15 years, will be able to recruit fresh blood.
'No attempt is being spared to change Prasar Bharati. We have a wonderful new team in position,' says Sircar when asked about his vision for the public service broadcaster. In his long years with the government, which of his various roles did he enjoy most? ‘The mind is always focused on sharp subjects like finance, banking, industry etc. but the heart lies in different cultural expressions,’ he says.
Culture is a subject that deeply interests him. He is quite fascinated by the idea of India which is ‘built on alliances, mergers and acquisitions’ and reads extensively on it. ‘When times are normal, I finish a book in three days,’ he says.
So what does he read? Sircar says he avoids fiction if he can help it. ‘There is so much reality to learn. Also, I read anything that brings me closer to how the concept of India came together,’ Sircar says. He focuses on three subjects — anthropology, history and popular studies. Â
He is currently fascinated by the largest Islamic group in the east of Indus and is reading Richard Eaton’s The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier to find out more on the subject. ‘Everyday is Christopher Columbus, you discover something new,’ he says, smiling.
Does he travel? Hardly, says Sircar. His last holiday was in 2003. ‘The most interesting vacation was when I stayed in a wooden cottage in Chail,’ he says. Between work, Sircar also enjoys food and can rattle off names of cheese from across the world and claims to tell one cheese from another, blue cheese being his favourite. ‘I am strictly carnivorous and enjoy red meat,’ he says.
So now, Prasar Bharati has finally officially been exempt from paying income tax, a privilege that was given to it when it started and then suddenly taken away. ‘When Prasar Bharati came up as a public service broadcaster it was meant to be an autonomous body at a little distance from the government and carry out Â
functions assigned to the Information & Broadcasting Ministry in coordinating Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR). It is a public service body because the work is not like normal private channels,’ he says.
‘While a private channel, for example, would report a crime in the manner is which it needs to be presented and could be sensationalising an issue. On the other hand a public service broadcaster needs to harp on penalty, punishment and retribution so as to send a warning down the line,’ Sircar explains.
So for this, he says, the organisation needs to travel along ‘unprofitable routes’ and ‘incur losses’. If it went on the profit mode then it would contradict its role, he further states.
So when Prasar Bharati was set up the original act (Section 22) stated that the public service broadcaster was exempt from taxes. But the facility was taken away almost overnight within 4-5 years.
‘That meant nearly 600 offices of Doordarshan and AIR became exposed to questions regarding income and taxation. End of the day, we might not have had to pay taxes, but went through the entire rigmarole to prove that we don't have to pay taxes. And all this, at public expense,’ he explains.
‘This has been sorted out just seven days back thanks to [P Chidambaram] and I&B minister [Ambika Soni]. The Group of Ministers had also recommended the same,’ says an ecstatic Sircar, who took over as Prasar Bharati CEO in late February.
And how did he manage this? ‘Well, by packaging the logic in a way you can't refuse,’ he says, laughing, sitting in his Parliament Street office.
An ex-student of St Xavier’s School, Kolkata and a Presidency College alumnus, Sircar has had a long stint with the government. He joined the Indian Administrative Services in 1975 in West Bengal and has served several roles including the Director of Industries. He also helped set up the Food Processing Industries Department in the state and then moved to the Finance Department as Special Secretary. He is also the youngest Principal Secretary of Commerce & Industries Department in the state. Â
Sircar joined the Goverment of India (GOI) as Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises on May 2006 and was promoted as Secretary to GOI in September 2008 and then moved to head the Ministry of Culture. In his new role, Sircar plans to turn around Prasar Bharati. He has managed to get the nod to set up the Prasar Bharati recruitment Board which means that the organisation, where hiring had virtually come to a standstill in the last 15 years, will be able to recruit fresh blood.
'No attempt is being spared to change Prasar Bharati. We have a wonderful new team in position,' says Sircar when asked about his vision for the public service broadcaster. In his long years with the government, which of his various roles did he enjoy most? ‘The mind is always focused on sharp subjects like finance, banking, industry etc. but the heart lies in different cultural expressions,’ he says.
Culture is a subject that deeply interests him. He is quite fascinated by the idea of India which is ‘built on alliances, mergers and acquisitions’ and reads extensively on it. ‘When times are normal, I finish a book in three days,’ he says.
So what does he read? Sircar says he avoids fiction if he can help it. ‘There is so much reality to learn. Also, I read anything that brings me closer to how the concept of India came together,’ Sircar says. He focuses on three subjects — anthropology, history and popular studies. Â
He is currently fascinated by the largest Islamic group in the east of Indus and is reading Richard Eaton’s The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier to find out more on the subject. ‘Everyday is Christopher Columbus, you discover something new,’ he says, smiling.
Does he travel? Hardly, says Sircar. His last holiday was in 2003. ‘The most interesting vacation was when I stayed in a wooden cottage in Chail,’ he says. Between work, Sircar also enjoys food and can rattle off names of cheese from across the world and claims to tell one cheese from another, blue cheese being his favourite. ‘I am strictly carnivorous and enjoy red meat,’ he says.
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