New Delhi, Jan. 21: The BJP government, long accused of trying to saffronise the state-run media, is facing a revolt on the issue in Doordarshan on election-eve.

Editors at the country’s largest television channel — who belong to the Indian Information Service — are planning to serve an ultimatum on the government, seeking mass transfer out of Doordarshan.

The revolt stems from a spate of circulars, which, the editors allege, have come at the behest of the information and broadcasting ministry, leaving them powerless over news content and shifting control to consulting editor Deepak Chaurasia, brought in from Aaj Tak to pep up the channel. Chaurasia is considered close to top BJP leaders.

Chaurasia and his team of contract anchors-cum-newsmen have been given total control over news assignments, news gathering, phone-ins, live inputs, visuals and news packaging and content, the editors said. Earlier, Chaurasia’s team was responsible for anchoring news and reporting it. But news content remained in the hands of the IIS editors.

Information Service editors, by an order dated January 13 and bearing memo number DDN/NR/04, will now be responsible for “scripting news bulletin and packaged news stories based on material provided”, which effectively reduces them into copywriters. Their other jobs include checking the ticker — for which a separate director, ticker, is to be appointed from among the IIS editors — to monitor other channels and looking after the library and graphics.

Even guests — usually experts in different fields — for news-based programmes will be selected by Chaurasia’s team.

Chaurasia’s team is being accused by the IIS officers of biased reporting on the Assembly elections. The editors feel the bias will become more pronounced in the run-up to the general elections and that is why the circular has been issued.

“State-run channels have always been accused of being partial to the ruling party, whichever is in power, because of various pressures that editors face. But the fact is we have still tried to strike a balance for we know governments will change.… If we carried two stories on the BJP, we would balance it with one on Sonia Gandhi in the past,” said a senior IIS officer of the rank of additional secretary.

The order was issued by the newly-appointed additional director general (news and current affairs), Sanjeev Dutta. Dutta is running the channel after IIS editor Swagata Ghosh, who held the job earlier, was promoted and shunted out to the Directorate of Audio Visual Publicity 10 days ago.

Ghosh, who combined the job of editor-in-chief and chief manager of news and current affairs content, was reportedly packed off after a tiff with Chaurasia. Although Ghosh was responsible for running the channel, Chaurasia’s terms of employment make him responsible only to the chief executive of Prasar Bharti and the director-general of DD — who is yet to be appointed — and not to Ghosh or Dutta, a career bureaucrat.

His contract states: “Shri Chaurasia will be required to build, direct and manage the news teams and newsroom operators under the overall direction of the CEO, Prasar Bharti or DG, Doordarshan.”

Although Ghosh was handpicked by Prasad as Doordarshan’s head of news, he had reportedly tried to be impartial in his news selection.

“The whole problem is that though Chaurasia’s team will be in charge of news, the order adds we (editors) will still be ‘responsible for what goes on air’. This, we feel, is absolutely unacceptable and the final nail in our coffin,” said editors who are signing the ultimatum, to be served on Prasad early next week.

The draft memorandum states: “Request you to correct the situation by making contract staff report to (the) civil service... in case this is not possible, then request you to grant an honourable exit by transferring us out of Prasar Bharti.”

Chaurasia, who had nine anchors-cum-newsmen initially, has been asked to raise his team of contract employees to 57.