APP
Parliamentary Secretary for Information & Broadcasting, Barrister Danyal Chaudhry told the National Assembly on Friday that Pakistan Television’s (PTV) business plan had been submitted to its board for approval after completion of the required formalities. Responding to a question during the question hour, he expressed hope that the plan would be approved within the next few months.
He said the Finance Division had released the allocated funds of Rs11.73 billion and Rs13 billion for the respective financial years. He said all the required components of the business plan had been completed and the document had been sent to the board for consideration.
“We are trying to ensure that the programmes are sustainable and can continue in the long run,” he said, adding that PTV’s primary responsibility was to communicate the state’s message clearly and effectively.
Responding to a supplementary question about public awareness advertisements, Danyal Chaudhry said the government was trying to ensure that such advertisements were aired during prime time on PTV to reach a wider audience. He said that if prime-time transmission was not possible, the advertisements should be broadcast during slots when they could reach the maximum number of viewers.
He added that the government was also trying to ensure the full use of airtime allocated for such advertisements. Replying to another supplementary question about television drama content, he said the issue had also been discussed by the relevant standing committee, which had raised concerns over certain practices and content considered inappropriate from a societal perspective.