Moral cops to ban Nagpuri album

Ranchi, Feb. 1: Two years after Pyaar Ka Hawa, a Nagpuri audio cassette containing eight love songs sung by Bokaro-based Manoj “Dehati”, was released and the producer having sold over 100,000 cassettes — HRD and culture minister Bandhu Tirkey is determined to clamp down on the “undesirable” songs.

His wrath is specially directed at the hit that calls upon a schoolgirl to bunk classes and meet her boyfriend at a dam. The song, the minister feels, does not send out the right message.

The department has been asked to compile a list of objectionable songs. Once the list is ready, he declared, playing them in public places would be banned.

The minister plans to form a board, comprising eminent musicians of the state, to vet each album. The department, he said, is busy giving final touches to a culture policy, which would include restrictions on objectionable songs.

All producers will have to get permission from his department before releasing albums after the policy is announced, Tirkey asserted.