Hyderabad: The Chief Electoral Officer, Dr Rajat Kumar, has disclosed that monitoring of news channels unit working under his direction is in full swing. The unit maintains a round-the-clock vigil on news channels over violations of the Model Code of Conduct.
The unit scans contents on news-television channels to identify political advertisements streamed to garb of news coverage. This significantly contributes towards keeping the tap on deviations from Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
He said, the unit tracks 22 news channels in Telugu, five in Urdu and two in English. Daily reports with video clippings on violations of the code are sent to the District Elections Officers for necessary action against candidates/parties/ or television channels. It also submits reports to the state Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) regarding telecast of paid news and advertisements violating the code. The Committee was constituted on October 3 headed by Dr Rajat Kumar
He said, ever since the unit commenced it operations on October 19, the unit submits the cases of violations involving various television channels. The violations range from distribution of cash/ liquor, seizure of gold, silver, ganja, gutka and tobacco to political advertisements, paid news and to speeches. (NSS)
