Neerja Sekhar Appointed As Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Special Secretary

Explainer Briefly Slides Neerja Sekhar, the additional secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has been appointed as Special Secretary of MIB via the appointments committee of the cabinet. For context, special secretaries, additional secretaries, and joint secretaries have the maximum measure of independent functioning and responsibility with respect to the business falling within their wing, according to the Department of Legal Affairs . Sekhar, who is a 1993 batch Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer from the Haryana cadre, replaced fellow IAS Atul Kumar Tiwari as the additional secretary, MIB in November 2020, according to a report by the PSU Watch.

Prior to this, she was a joint secretary in the MIB. Sekhar is also a nominated member of the Prasar Bharti board. What lies ahead for the special secretary? Sekhar’s appointment as the special secretary comes at a time when the MIB is re-looking at the comments on the Broadcasting Services Regulation bill, 2023.



This bill seeks to bring over-the-top (OTT) broadcasting services (also called streaming services) within the regulatory ambit . It set up requirements for streaming services to create content evaluation committees (CECs) to review content before release. It brings in a Programme and Advertising Code that the streaming services have to comply with.

Besides the broadcast bill, the MIB has also sought comment s from streaming services and digital media associations on the goals set out under the National Broadcasting Policy 2024. This policy, drafted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, sets out three primary goals: “propelling growth, promoting content, and protecting interests.” The MIB is also looking into direct-to-mobile (D2M) technology and digital radio technology.

D2M allows mobile devices to stream content without internet access and digital radio uses digital technology to transmit or receive across the radio spectrum. Recently, MIB secretary Sanjay Jaju said that the national broadcaster Prasar Bharti, along with IIT Kanpur and Saankhya Labs have been testing D2M technology. Also read:.