Zee's Subhash Chandra, 3 others co-opted on UNI Board

NEW DELHI: Zee group Chairman Subhash Chandra and his brother Jawahar Goel were co-opted as directors of the news agency UNI, following the group's acquisition of substantial number of shares despite opposition from the agency's employees.

Besides them, P C Lahiri and C S Vishwanathan were co-opted as directors, according to a press release issued by UNI Chairman Manoj Kumar Sonthalia.

Addressing the concerns expressed by employees and some sections of political parties about the threat to the basic character of the agency in the event of any single media player acquiring majority stake, Sonthalia said the reconstituted board of the company discussed at length these concerns.

He said the board would like to assure that the "basic character of the company shall remain unchanged."

"The activities of the company which today comprise English, Hindi and Urdu news services and photo and graphic services would be expanded to give it a global footprint by utilising all existing resources, including manpower."

Immediately after the decisions of the board were known, UNI employess under the banner of Joint Action Committee lodged strong protests and held a gate meeting to express opposition to the decisions.

A spokesperson of the JAC said: "The agitation will be intensified. We are against the decisions (to allow) Zee group to acquire equity in the company."