Looking where no one looks

What has Doordarshan (DD) done for agriculture so far?

 

The very inception of DD happened with programmes on agriculture in 1959, that was the beginning. The Krishi Darshan programme of DD is very well known. For last few years, we have been running several big projects for the Ministry of Agriculture, which we call the Mass Media Support to Agriculture Extension. Within that, we have two components.We have ahalf-an-hour agriculture programme from 18 major stations everyday. This is to cover general agricultural information, new crop varieties, technology and horticulture. The other is for our Narrow Casting Kendras (smaller stations in cities like Mathura and Varanasi) where we do special programmes which are put in narrow casting mode with a cluster of small transmitters supporting these programmes. Therefore these programmes are highly localised and have their own design. This programme was launched in 2005 by the prime minister. We also cover agriculture news bulletin and give market rates during the programme itself. 

 

What was the response of these programmes by the people?

 

The response was very good. This project is also watched closely by the ministries. There are local advisory committees which are associated with these programmes. And agricultural scientists, government officials and successful farmers are associated with the programmes. These programmes are funded by the agricultural ministry and produced by Doordarshan. The budget of these programme is according to the production. The ministry does the audience research surveys to find out the response of the people about the programmes. It is very useful programme and our producers are also being trained properly.

 

How do you see over all coverage of farmer’s issues on private channels?

 

There is no news about them in the media. Media only takes notice when farmers commit suicide. Only Doordarshan’s regional channels are devoted to agricultural programmes. New programmes have replace programmes like Chawpal which were broadcasted earlier but the dedication is still the same. We still have great penetration into the grass roots. There was a project Kalyani after which people began naming their daughters and even villages as Kalyani. We have over 85,000 Kalyani health members to take our messages to the people. 

 

Tell us something about DD Bharti?

 

We are trying to do a make over of DD Bharti, we want to position this channel as the art and culture channel of India. We are revamping the channel and have also tied up with many organisations for programmes to be shown in DD Bharti. The purpose is to share these programmes with the larger public and show good programmes.