NEW DELHI: Due to the lack of permanent news readers/news presenters in Doordarshan News, the Government has not allowed any routine transfers of news readers-cum-translators in All India Radio (AIR).

Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore told Parliament that News Readers-cum-Translators (NRT) of different Indian languages are needed for the smooth functioning of news operations in different languages in News Services Division, All India Radio. He said there are a total of 27 News Readers-cum-Translators working in eleven languages in the News Services Division of AIR. The appointment was made in the eighties and nineties and there has been no new appointment ever since 1999.  

Meanwhile, DD News sources said that there are no news readers at the centre any more. Regional kendras have news readers who work on casual basis for a maximum of seven days in a month.

At the same time, these sources said that those who read the news at DD News headquarters are either designated as anchors or anchor-correspondents. Among the news readers, most of them are bid in a contract but some work on casual basis.

Yet another issue that faced Prasar Bharati in February was the age of superannuation for all employees of Prasar Bharati (including Announcers and Newsreaders) is 60 years. In the past, the officials at Prasar Bharati have been very open about the lack of skilled employees.