Doordarshan has reportedly transferred one of its assistant directors from Ahmedabad to Andamans after the national broadcaster's Gujarati channel aired a news item on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's estranged wife Jashodaben.  

V M Vanol, 58, who will be retiring next year was transferred in January second week while the one and half minute footage was aired by DD Girnar on January 1. The video shows Jashodaben filing an RTI petition with Gujarat Police seeking details of her entitlements as PM's wife. National media reported on the issue widely.

However, I&B ministry had not made any comments on this. Top ministry officials said the transfer was an editorial and administrative issue and nobody else was responsible for that. They requested not to be named for this story.

Vanol confirmed he had been transferred to the Port Blair station in Andamans but refused to go into details of what led to his transfer. Doordarshan officials in Ahmedabad and New Delhi said the day after the clip was aired, top bureaucrats from the ‘I&B’ ministry in New Delhi spoke to DD Ahmedabad Kendra officials and demanded an explanation. Four people - a joint director and three assistant directors including Vanol - who were in charge of putting news together that day, were allegedly pulled up.

But I&B ministry officials said the meeting was a regular stock taking event and was not related to any particular issue. "Vanol was in charge of collecting news from Gujarat that day. Since Jashodaben’s news was big in all private channels, he decided to put out a small item," an employee of DD Ahmedabad Kendra told media.

- Manohar