Employees at Sansad TV are fearing a downsizing exercise in the absence of a long-term contract and repeated messages to extend their service by a month. 

In June, when the one-year contract of the channel’s 186 staffers was set to expire, Sansad TV director (admin) AK Maulik issued an official order – seen by Newslaundry – saying the competent authority had approved the extension of the appointment period for employees for a month “or until further orders”. The next month, employees said they were told to extend their work passes for another month.

The channel, which airs parliamentary proceedings, was formed in March 2021 after the merger of Lok Sabha TV and Rajya Sabha TV. Several layoffs had happened during the merger, in 2022, and even in June last year, when 25 permanent and temporary staffers were asked to leave.

An employee said they have been told to get a work pass for another month, after the one-month extension granted on June 30 expires in July. 

“If it was a one-year contract, then we wouldn’t have to worry for one year. Now the contract is for one-month…there is always a worry about what will happen next. Will the job be saved or lost? There are family expenses, children’s school fees…there is an environment of chaos here,” said a senior producer.

However, another producer denied the possibility of layoffs at the same scale as the year Sansad TV was formed. “As far as I know, some procedural changes are going on. Earlier also, at the time of such changes, there had been an extension of 15 days each in Lok Sabha TV. However, Rajya Sabha TV used to have a contract of at least three months. ”

Another employee who has worked with Rajya Sabha TV and Sansad TV said such directions are given when the management wants to cut jobs, to compel staffers to search for another job. “I worked in Rajya Sabha TV and Sansad TV for a total of five years. We used to have three-, six- and one-year contracts. When Rajya Sabha TV CEO Gurdeep Sappal left the organisation, one-month contracts started being given. Because the new management wanted to see and discuss who should be removed and who should be retained. At that time too, many people were removed.”

Newslaundry reached out to Sansad TV CEO Rajit Punhani but his office said he had gone to meet Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar. A questionnaire has been mailed to him, and this report will be updated if a response is received.

Newslaundry had earlier detailed layoffs at the channel and the changes in its programming.