Assistant Director of Doordarshan Podhigai TV, the Tamil channel of DD, R Vasumathi, has been suspended for dereliction of duty. She had reportedly blacked out the speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was addressing IIT-Madras during the Convocation.
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Doordarshan is a public service broadcaster found by the Government of India. Though autonomous, it does not have the liberty to blackout the speech of the Prime Minister of India as any private channel has the liberty to do.
As per reports, the Prime Minister’s office sought an explanation from Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar on why Doordarshan Podhigai, the Tamil channel of DD in Chennai had not telecast live the speech of PM Modi on Monday.
Reportedly, DD Podhigai was busy telecasting a Tamil song and a drama when Prime Minister Modi was delivering a speech at the prize distribution ceremony of the Singapore-India Hackathon and the 56th annual convocation of IIT-Madras.
Narendra Modi had attended the convocation ceremony on the 30th of September where he addressed the students. Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said, “In front of me is both a mini-India and the spirit of New India. There is energy, vibrancy and positivity. I could see dreams of the future in your eyes. I could see the destiny of India in your eyes”.
Congratulating the parents and teachers of the graduating students, Narendra Modi also lauded the support staff. “I also want to highlight the role of the support staff. The silent, behind the scenes people who prepared your food, kept the classes clean, kept the hostels clean”.