NEW DELHI: Prasar Bharati is bracing itself to meet major protests from various cadres on issues such as cadre review for engineering employees to the inordinate delay and failure in promoting the direct recruit cadre officers to higher posts as directed by Courts more than five years back.

Hundreds of Direct Recruit Programme officers working in the two public service broadcasters, All India Radio and Doordarshan, are to launch a nationwide peaceful sit in protest dharna from 2 July.

The Association of Radio & Television Engineering Employees (ARTEE) held a lunch hour gate meeting last week as the first leg of its protracted agitation on a seven-point charter including One Pay for One Cadre amongst subordinate Engineering cadres (from Helper to Assistant Engineer) in All India Radio and Doordarshan.

After another Lunch Hour gate meeting at all stations throughout the Country on 8 July, there will be a day long Dharna on 22 July from 10 am to 4 pm at all capital stations. The next phase of agitation programme will be decided in the National Convention of this Association proposed to be held on 2, 3 and 4 August at Thiruvananthapuram.

In a notice to the I&B Minister, Secretary I&B and Chief Executive Prasar Bharati, the employees say they are deeply anguished over the inordinate delay and failure on the part of the Ministry and department in promoting the cadre officers to higher posts.

A spokesperson of the Joint forum of the Association of the UPSC Recruited Programme Officers of AIR and Doordarshan (AUPO) and Programme Staff Welfare Association (PSWA) - the two Associations spearheading the protest - said there is an unprecedented situation prevailing in the two organisations where hundreds of programme officers recruited by the Union Public Service Commission through national level selections are languishing for 25-28 years in their entry level posts without receiving a single promotion in their entire career.

The associations allege that this is directly linked to a full-blown recruitment and promotion scam in the organisations unearthed through RTI applications recently. The documents obtained indicate a large number of contractual persons have been inducted into the regular programme Cadre by giving short shift to the statutory constitutional provisions, a 1982 decision of the Union Cabinet, the educational and eligibility criteria etc prescribed in the recruitment rules. These illegal appointees have been given further multiple promotions and today occupy very senior positions in the organisations, the associations claim.

Pointing to collusion, the associations have demanded a fast track inquiry into the scam and disciplinary proceedings against those involved, pending the final removal of the illegal inductees from the cadre they have urged for withdrawal of all administrative powers from these illegal officers as a minimum confidence building measure.