I&B min Prakash Javadekar resigns ahead of cabinet reshuffle
Apart from Javadekar, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has also resigned
Javadekar has been at the helm of I&B ministry since June 2019 when the NDA government returned to power with a thumping majority. Besides I&B ministry portfolio, Javadekar was also in-charge of Environment, Forest and Climate Change ministry. He had served as the I&B minister in the previous NDA government also.
Under Javadekar, the I&B ministry has taken several key decisions like bringing OTT and digital news platforms under regulatory framework through IT Rules. The government also expanded the remit of I&B ministry by bringing OTT and digital news under MIB.
The ministry also amended the Cable Television Network Rules 1994 to give statutory backing to Self Regulatory Bodies (SRBs). The ministry has also brought TV broadcasters at par with OTT platforms by prescribing a three-tier regulatory framework.
The I&B ministry had also formed a four-member committee to review guidelines on Television Rating Agencies in India has submitted its recommendation. The four-member committee which comprised Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Vempati, IIT Kanpur Professor of Statistics, Department of Mathematics and Statistics Dr Shalabh, C-DOT Executive Director Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay, and Professor Pulak Ghosh of Centre for Public Policy (CPP) has already submitted its recommendations.
In order to bring digital news under the purview of the Press and Registration of Books (PRB) Act 1867, the ministry has prepared a draft Bill titled 'Registration of Press and Periodicals (RPP)' Bill, 2019” to replace the existing PRB Act, 1867.
