Mr Pitroda’s turn at Prasar Bharati
The Sam Pitroda committee is the fourth panel the govt has created since 1996 to solve the problems of Prasar Bharati
The Sam Pitroda committee is the fourth panel the govt has created since 1996 to solve the problems of Prasar Bharati
If there is one thing which you cannot accuse the folks in government of lacking, it is optimism. Yet another committee to solve the problems of Prasar Bharati and “examine its relationship with the government" has begun work. This time headed by Sam Pitroda. This is the fourth problem-solving committee since 1996. Never say die.
Less than 10 days ago in Bhilai camp, a semi-urban colony in Chhattisgarh’s Durg district, a farmer asked, how come in a country with 75% employed in agriculture, nobody has started a farm, dairy and animal husbandry channel? His figure may be slightly off the mark, but his logic is irrefutable. That is something for DD Direct, Doordarshan’s DTH service, to do right away—have a farm channel on its platform. DD’s own farm programmes are popular, but often miss their mark because either there is no power when they come on, or people are not free to watch at that hour. But have a 24- or an 18-hour channel with repeat cycles and it will meet needs. Also, agriculture programming, as people in DD’s Andhra Pradesh Kendra will certify, never lacks advertisers.
Because you do not offer OTV on DD Direct’s free service, people in Orissa prefer to take a DTH service that they pay ₹ 200 a month for. Bring more regional news channel on board. If Congress parliamentarian Rajiv Shukla’s family’s news channel can be offered on DD Direct, surely others can too?