Monday, March 14 2005 16:01 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Concerned over depiction of obscene scenes on private TV channels, the Government on Monday (Mar 14, 2005) said that it was planning to introduce a legislation in the next session of Parliament to constitute a regulatory authority to monitor the content.

"We are contemplating an autonomous regulatory authority," Information and Broadcasting Minister S Jaipal Reddy said. He was hoping to come forward with legislation in this regard in the next session of Parliament, he added.

Replying to supplementaries during question hour, Reddy said that, while there was no proposal to introduce censorship for television, the proposal for setting up an authority to regulate the content was under consideration.

He said that several stakeholders including owners of TV channels, media heads, cable operator federations, NGOs, educationists and women and consumer organisations attended a workshop last month (February) on the content issue on TV channels.

While participants were of the view that self-regulation by the industry was an ideal solution, the consensus favoured establishment of an autonomous authority to regulate the content.

In reply to a question, Reddy said that the copyright issue lay with the Human Resources Development Ministry. However, some action would be considered against channels exhibiting obscene scenes, he added.