Next up in the series “Stuff the government does that it shouldn’t be doing” :

Watching any kind of television .. really.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Thursday issued a notice to Colors television channel for showing a district magistrate in a bad light in its tele-serial Na Aana Iss Des Lado, rated the third most watched TV serial in cable homes in India last week.

It is strange that, lately, all notices from the I&B ministry are for Colors. To its credit, it seems the channel has kept them hooked.

The cause of the notice follows :

“In the serial (Lado) the district magistrate has not only been shown as corrupt and a womaniser, but his lust for women defies any logic. In fact, in one of the episodes, women are paraded before him on his request. The magistrate, who is apparently shown on an official visit to investigate a case of female foeticide has also been shown to indulge in blackmail. The entire characterization appears to be a grotesque caricature of a district administrator,”

This is such a frivolous notice besides infringing upon freedom of expression. I call for the I&B ministry to write all scripts henceforth — they know enough about the nuances of script-writing and this will keep them occupied.