The Central Bureau of Communication (formerly Bureau of Outreach and Communication), an unit under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, has come out with revised guidelines for empanelment of audio-visual producers who are farmed out government projects.

The move comes in conjunction with the MIB announcing new guidelines for uplinking and downlinking of TV channels in India. One of the clauses makes it mandatory for private sector TV channels, with few genres exempted, to air 30 minutes of ‘national interest’ content on various relevant issues — a category that can be reviewed by the government from time to time.

CBC is the nodal organization for paid outreach government campaigns through print, electronic and outdoor media, apart from websites, on behalf of various ministries and departments.

What were the needs to issue fresh policy guidelines? The government said the primary aim was to keep pace with the changed times and encourage fresh talent in the field of AV production by extending the empanelment provision to the start-up AV producers and agencies.

The aforementioned facts aparts, the official document says, policy updates were needed to “enable CBC to consider the proposals for production of special programmes through cable and satellite TV channels to create a high end production content and create maximum visibility by on-boarding the TV channels” as per the fixed government rate card.

One of the many objectives to bring in revised empanelment procedures was also to enable the CBC offices to create original content in the language of the States instead of dubbing them as far as feasible.

“To enable better outreach and mass communication by producing the effective and people-centric creative content at optimal rates in competitive, transparent and time-bound manner” the new rules have been drafted, the government said.

It also added that the aim is to provide the stakeholders a clear understanding of parameters and processes involved in “selection, job award, rate fixation and other related aspects for transparent and efficient execution” of the government projects.

The government said the new guidelines will come into effect from the date of notification by CBC and would supersede all earlier policy guidelines/internal guidelines of CBC relating to empanelment of AV producers and agencies, including those that were notified by the erstwhile Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity.