OdishaPlus Bureau
Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), Puri is ruminating to auction the live telecast rights of Rath Yatra, the grandest festival of Odisha. The administration has invited TV channels to auction the live telecast rights of the phases of Rath Yatra like Snanajatra, Bahudajatra, Sunabesha, Adharpana and Niladribije.
Earlier, Rath Yatra was live telecasted on major local news channels. However, this move by SJTA will only allow the highest bidder to perform the same.
“We are making a renewed effort this year. The news channels earn a lot by telecasting the Rath Yatra live but the temple does not receive even a small slice of the revenues they generate,” says P.K. Mohapatra, chief of the SJTA.
Deadline for the auction is 10th of June by 4:30 PM, while the bidding process will begin from 4:45 PM, in the presence of the applicants or their representatives. The selected bidder will have to submit the full amount on the day of auction.
Terms and conditions by the administrations
Despite, the content of SJTA regarding auction, the administration has defined certain terms and conditions for the bidder.
Reputed TV channels having at least five years of experience on producing/telecasting news/broadcasting can only apply for the auction. The selected bidder shall have to take separate permission from the district administration or the police administration for placement of camera, DSNG vans or any other appliances.
The approved bidder cannot live telecast the feed or any advertisement in any public places of Puri. The rights holder shall submit the video feed, in the form of DVD to the administrator.
The live telecast right holder is bound to share the feed with national broadcaster, “Doordarshan” with no charges. In case of any dispute, the decision of chief administrator of the SJTA will be final.
Jayant Sarangi, the MLA of Puri is standing against this Step of the administration and says, “I think it is unfair to give permission to a particular channel,”
Such a move has already triggered controversies as the freedom of TV channels help to telecast this mega festival in propagation of this Cultural and Traditional approach. Meanwhile, the temple administration has not provided any clarification on why they have decided to sell the rights to telecast. Rath Yatra is not a sport like cricket but a religious event which should be telecasted without any charges.
Story: Sanat Padhi
