radio at a glance

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1 ALL INDIA RADIO Citizens’ Charter (At a glance) AIR is committed to: (i) be an exemplary Public Service Broadcaster, (ii) uphold and strengthen democratic and secular values, (iii) promote national integration and harmony, (iv) inform, educate, entertain, enrich and empower people, (v) become a powerful tool of social transformation, (vi) fight with social evils and strengthen social justice, (vii) provide timely, updated, objective and comprehensive news and views, (viii) provide a balanced insight on Indian thought, institutions and culture, (ix) become a truly national broadcaster by covering 100% of the population, (x) achieve international standards in programme content and signal quality, (xi) encourage international co-operation, (xii) have a global reach through internet services and use state of art technology, (xiii) cover at present about 99.14 % population and 91.79 % area of the country with 231 Broadcasting Centres and 372 Terrestrial Transmitters including 170 FM transmitters in 24 language & 146 dialects nationally. AIR signals also reach externally to about 108 countries in 27 languages (11 national & 16 foreign). (xiv) increase transparency and accountability of its functioning by leveraging technology and through effective use of websites/internet technology. (xv) acknowledge all complaints within 7 days and reply within 30 days approximately. __________________________________________________________________ _______ Contact us Grievance Redressal Visit us at Director General All India Radio, Room No.102 Akashvani Bhavan, New Delhi-110 001. [email protected] Dy. Director General (Programme Planning & Development), Directorate General, All India Radio, Room No.106, Akashvani Bhavan, New Delhi-110 001. [email protected] www.allindiaradio.org , www.newsonair.com , Information & facilitation counter/ Grievance Officer/ Head of Office or Station Note : For more information, please see details of profile, services, contacts, etc., on the website. ________________________________________________________________________ Suggestions/comments, if any, to this Citizens’ Charter, are welcome from any one in India at [email protected] and [email protected] , within 15 days.

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Page 1: Radio at a Glance

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ALL INDIA RADIO Citizens’ Charter

(At a glance) AIR is committed to: (i) be an exemplary Public Service Broadcaster, (ii) uphold and strengthen democratic and secular values, (iii) promote national integration and harmony, (iv) inform, educate, entertain, enrich and empower people, (v) become a powerful tool of social transformation, (vi) fight with social evils and strengthen social justice, (vii) provide timely, updated, objective and comprehensive news and views, (viii) provide a balanced insight on Indian thought, institutions and culture, (ix) become a truly national broadcaster by covering 100% of the population, (x) achieve international standards in programme content and signal quality, (xi) encourage international co-operation, (xii) have a global reach through internet services and use state of art technology, (xiii) cover at present about 99.14 % population and 91.79 % area of the country with 231

Broadcasting Centres and 372 Terrestrial Transmitters including 170 FM transmitters in 24 language & 146 dialects nationally. AIR signals also reach externally to about 108 countries in 27 languages (11 national & 16 foreign).

(xiv) increase transparency and accountability of its functioning by leveraging technology

and through effective use of websites/internet technology. (xv) acknowledge all complaints within 7 days and reply within 30 days approximately. _________________________________________________________________________ Contact us Grievance Redressal Visit us atDirector General All India Radio, Room No.102 Akashvani Bhavan, New Delhi-110 001. [email protected]

Dy. Director General (Programme Planning & Development), Directorate General, All India Radio, Room No.106, Akashvani Bhavan, New Delhi-110 001. [email protected]

www.allindiaradio.org, www.newsonair.com, Information & facilitation counter/ Grievance Officer/ Head of Office or Station

Note: For more information, please see details of profile, services, contacts, etc., on the website.

________________________________________________________________________Suggestions/comments, if any, to this Citizens’ Charter, are welcome from any one in India at [email protected] and [email protected] , within 15 days.

Page 2: Radio at a Glance

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All India Radio

Citizens’ Charter

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Directorate General: All India Radio Akashvani Bhavan

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Page 3: Radio at a Glance

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Prasar Bharati All India Radio

Citizens’ Charter (Detailed)

This charter is a declaration of the AIR’s vision, mission, roles, objectives, major targets, services offered, details of it’s business, range of the citizen/customers/clients/ groups covered, grievances redressal & access system, standards followed, business transacted, importance & values, etc., of AIR, with commitment to achieve excellence in these as per following:

Sl.No. Contents Descriptions 1 Vision Empower people by developing knowledge based societies through

broadcasting of the high quality messages to inform, awake & enlighten people freely, truthfully, objectively and with maximum speed & clarity using state of the art broadcast technology.

2 Mission i. Pay special attention on the overall quality & quantity of the contents creation/programme coverage & production and the carrier (signal) transmission of approved quality standards for the human developmental programme. ii. Maintain the transparency, promptness and efficiency of the services for promoting the social welfare, noble cause and happiness to empower people of all types of the masses (Bahujan Hitaya Bahujan Sukhaya), etc. iii. Meet the national challenges by helping to combat social exploitation & abuses, corruption, poverty, unemployment, inequality/much disparity, untouchability and other socio- economic evils. We also help people during disaster & emergency and the relief works. Our thrust areas are to help people in overall socio-economic development, bridging the gap of digital divide and up-liftment of the poor, backward, downtrodden, tribal, villagers, illiterate, under privileged, unemployed, aged and, aggrieved people, minorities, vulnerable sections of societies, rural areas, etc.

3 Roles i. Maintain & strengthen its role as a national public service broadcaster and, provide adequate radio coverage with good quality signal & sufficient programme to reach the maximum population and area of India and also abroad in the electronic media {Terrestrial (MW, SW & FM), Satellite (DTH), Internet medium, etc.} with the progressive use of appropriate & advanced broadcast, information & communication technologies. ii. AIR signal covers about 99.14 % by population & 91.79 % by area with 231 Broadcasting Centres & 372 Terrestrial Transmitters including 170 FM Transmitters nationally in about 24 language & 146 dialects. The external services of AIR covers about 108 nearby countries across the world in about 27 languages (11 national & 16 foreign). AIR has also plan to expand & improve the services in multimedia in future. iii. Provide fair & balanced news & current affairs, broadcast coverage on major events nationally & internationally, political affairs, sports and games, weather & meteorological data, disaster data, traffic data, grievances redress system, life style, etc. iv. Provide popular music (devotional, classical-Indian & Western), songs and spoken words(important talks, interviews & discussions), etc., to meet the entertainment and socio-economic needs of the masses.

Page 4: Radio at a Glance

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v. Provide live & state of the art service on the Internet/Website on a regular basis for coverage of AIR programme to all parts of the world including USA, Canada, Pacific Ocean – countries, etc., where signals of AIR-External services are not received adequately.

4 Objectives i. To disseminate information freely & without any bias, promotes education and provide entertainment with a variety of human development programme in the existing different languages and dialects spread all over the country and also abroad for enrichment of the life of the people. ii. To uphold & promote national unity & integrity, democratic values and fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of India and, the Indian cultural heritage & the archives. iii. To safeguard citizens’ rights to be informed on all matters of public interest by presenting a fair and balanced flow of information. iv. To pay special attention to the fields of education and spread of literacy, agriculture, rural development, environment, health & family welfare and science and technology. v. To create awareness about women’s issues and take special steps to protect the interests of children, aged and other vulnerable sections of the society. vi. To provide adequate coverage to diverse cultures, sports & games and youth affairs. vii. To promote social justice, safeguarding the rights of working classes, minorities and Tribal communities. viii. To develop harmonious atmosphere among the masses of different religion, caste, gender, community, region, state, border areas, etc., in the country, and, also promote global harmony for balance development. ix. To expand broadcasting facilities and promote research & development and training in broadcast technology for better services to the public. x. To increase transparency and accountability of its functioning by leveraging technology and through effective use of websites/internet technology. xi. Other relevant socio-economic issues in the country in the public interest.

5 Services Offered (Major wings of AIR working system are: i. Programme, ii. Engineering, iii. News, iv. Admin. and, v. Civil Construction Wing.)

i. Provide adequate programme coverage, production & transmission (in the electronic media, using the audio broadcast format at present and now developing & planning to start soon the data, text & multimedia broadcast format in near future) on all the important socio-economic and overall development related matters of the human being residing & moving in India, border areas, neighboring countries and also abroad. ii. Disseminate information freely & without any bias, promote education and provide entertainment and, also pay special attention on development of science & technology, health & family welfare, agriculture, social & natural justice, law & order, sports & games, youths, women & children development programme, environment, humanities, employment & opportunities, etc., including the diverse cultures of India and also important news, events of public interest through various development programme prepared in different languages & dialects of various regions in popular format like music, songs, features, talks, discussions, drama, interactive programme, interviews, etc.

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iii. Provide news & current affairs, coverage on all the major national & international events, political affairs, social justice, life style, sports and games, weather & meteorological data, disaster & emergency data, traffic data, grievances redress system, etc. iv. Provide adequate broadcast coverage with the existing, advanced & better broadcast, information and communication technology. At present, AIR’s terrestrial coverage is about 99.14 % by population and 91.79 % by area nationally in addition to the AIR coverage in the neighboring countries (about 108 Nos.). The Satellite coverage is also across the country except A&N islands. AIR has 20 channels on the DTH-DD Direct+ platform at present. The coverage population, area, quality & total Nos. of the channels shall increase in future. AIR has also planned to have about 20 Internet Channels that may come into operation very soon. v. Give advertisement for promotion to the various products and services and, also important issues. vi. AIR has 231 broadcasting centres/channels with 372 Nos. terrestrial transmitters including 170 FM, 148 MW & 54 SW transmitters at present all over the country. vii. AIR comprises the services of National Channel, Regional Stations, Local Radio Stations, Vividh Bharati Centres, FM Service and North Eastern Service at national level and, it has also External Services at international level to meet the requirements. viii. AIR has 3 tier broadcasting system nationally, namely; at the national, regional and local levels. ix. AIR has broadcasts in 24 languages & 146 dialects all over India. x. AIR has an External Services Division operating since 1st October, 1939. It broadcasts various programmes to cover about 108 Nos. nearby foreign countries by about 24 high power Transmitters (20 SW Transmitters & 4 MW Transmitters). It has broadcasts in 27 languages (11 national & 16 foreign) and has about 58 news bulletins in 26 languages. xi. AIR has 45 Regional News Units, 28 Up-Linking Centres and 40 Commercial Broadcasting Stations in the country and an AIR Resource Centre at central level. xii. Special broadcasts for VVIP (President/PM/ Governor/ CM etc.) & VIP coverage. xiii. AIR has its own public websites i.e. www.allindiaradio.org & http://www.newsonair.com/ for proper communication between the AIR Network and the Public. It has also an internal website for its own use and for improvement of the office communication & the data base management purpose. For knowing more about the AIR Network, please see the facts at a glance of AIR, AIR Stations, frequency schedule, popular FM service, mile stones since independence, who’s who, contact for feedback on the reception quality and other parts of the website and also the annual reports of Prasar Bharati-All India Radio of year 2005 and onwards. xiv. AIR is under Prasar Bharati board which is an autonomous body under Ministry of I&B, Govt. of India. AIR has a central headquarter office i.e. DG:AIR office at Delhi, Staff Training Institute at Delhi, and also has several Regional Staff Training Institutes located allover India to train & empower the AIR/DD officials. AIR has an office of Chief Engineer (Research & Development) at Delhi for effecting improvement & automation in

Page 6: Radio at a Glance

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the services offered to the public. AIR has also 5 zonal Chief Engineer’s offices and 12 Regional Dy. Director General offices allover the country for controlling the operation & maintenance activities more effectively and, further improvement & better delivery of the broadcast services offered to the public. xv. AIR makes enough efforts and co-ordinate with other offices to earn the required revenue for its normal functioning & growth of the organization after meeting the commitment, duties & responsibilities with the mission, major goals/targets & objectives as planned, by the various commercial activities through the Commercial Broadcasting Services, Marketing Division, AIR Resource Centre and other possible systems & mechanism from time to time. xvi. AIR communicates & helps the masses of all the categories, casts and religions located in the different geographical areas including rural, hilly, tribal, backward, mountainous, border areas and villages, as the signal reaches each and every corner of the areas along the earth surface & also in the nearby sky areas in the minimum time and at minimum cost than any other media available to them. xvii. AIR helps the large masses during various disasters & emergency (earthquake, flood, drought, tsunami, cyclone, civil war, country war etc.) by way of providing fast, authentic and enough information much conveniently in minimum cost to them. xviii. AIR provides broadcast training & development functions through its training institutes (STI/RSTIs etc.) to its own employees, foreign broadcast professionals/employees and summer trainees of the colleges, etc., and also arrange various workshop, seminars etc. in collaboration with BES(India) for the broadcast awareness and developmental activities. xix. Other relevant services in the national & public interest and meeting the priorities, plans & directives from the Indian Govt./Ministry and Prasar Bharati from time to time.

6 The Citizens/ Customers/ Clients covered

All the citizens of India, border areas, neighboring countries, large People of Indian Origin (PIO) countries across the world, and also, the broadcasters, broadcast manufacturers & the suppliers, etc.

7 Details of Quality Standards & System Improvement Mechanism

The standards that fulfill and satisfy the masses’ expectations are worked out routinely for broader coverage, state of the art programme production & the transmission for quality reception through better delivery system to the public well in time. It deals in detail with the programme contents, quantity, signal/carrier quality and the delivery mechanism for better quality programme & the services to the public. AIR uses international standards (ISO/IEC/AES&EBU standards and ITU-R Recommendation/Regulations) and Indian standards (BIS/ISI Standards & WPC frequency co-ordination), etc., for the whole AIR network systems like the Studios, Transmitters, Studios-Transmitter-Links, Uplinks-Downlinks, Power Supply and Air Conditioning Systems and other relevant items. AIR provides training; conduct workshop/seminars for better awareness and broadcast development programme, etc. to train its own employees for better delivery of the services to the public and other related people and also students in broadcast related field for helping them to meet the requirements. AIR has a Planning &

Page 7: Radio at a Glance

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Development Unit to execute various modern & expansion schemes and the projects and, also have a Research & Development wing for inducting new technology, automation and further improvement of the systems of the whole AIR network for delivery of better services to the public.

8 Details of the Grievances Redress & Access Mechanism

It could be worked out at three levels, namely, the concerned station level, zonal headquarter level and at the central headquarter level (DG:AIR, Akashvani Bhavan, New Delhi-110 001). The citizens (clients/customers etc.) can approach to any concerned officer at any of the three levels as the case level may be. The Information & Facilitation Counter (IFC) or Head of Office of the concerned AIR station/office may be approached for getting the information & necessary help as per the matter. IFC is available near to the reception counter just after the entrance to the AIR office complex. Director of Public Grievance at the central level and/or Grievance officer at the local station/office level may be approached for the grievance redressal system. We will promptly acknowledge & reply on your grievance/complaint, if any, within 30 working days (7 working days for acknowledgement, and within about 30 to 45 working days for normal reply and/or other reply). Regarding major/policy/ planning issues at the central level, any one may contact/send grievance/complaint, if any, to the Director General, Akashvani Bhavan, Parliament Street, New Delhi -110 001 or CVO, Prasar Bharati, Prasar Bharati Secretariat, PTI Building, Parliament Street, New Delhi-110 001. However, for any particular matter of the central level, following officers at the O/o DG:AIR, Akashvani Bhavan, New Delhi, may be approached for speedy disposal of the grievances, if any: Particular matter related with

Officer may be contacted

Programme Dy. Director General (Programme Planning & Development), Directorate General, All India Radio, Room No.106, Akashvani Bhavan, Parliament Street, New Delhi-110 001. Tele : 011-23421391 Fax : 011-23421632 E-mail: [email protected]

Engineering Chief Engineer (Development), Directorate General: All India Radio, Room No.107, Akashvani Bhavan, Parliament Street, New Delhi-110001. Tele : 011-23421464 Fax : 011-23421967 E-mail: [email protected]

News Addl. Director General (News), News Services Division, Room No.211, NBH, All India Radio, Parliament Street, New Delhi-110001. Tele : 011-23421210, Fax : 011-23421240, E-mail: [email protected]

Page 8: Radio at a Glance

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Administration Dy. Director General (Admin.), Room No. 209(A), 2nd Floor, Akashvani Bhavan, Parliament Street, New Delhi-110001. Tele : 011-23421110 Fax : 011-23421110 E-mail: [email protected]

Civil Construction Wing (Civil & Electrical Works)

Chief Engineer (Civil), Civil Construction Wing, Soochana Bhavan, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110003. Tele : 011-24367360 Fax : 011-24367360 E-mail: [email protected]

For further details, please visit out website i.e. www.allindiaradio.org & http://www.newsonair.com. You may please see the who’s who, feedback on the reception quality, DG:AIR office at Delhi, Annual Reports/Financial Reports/Network Growth(Progress), STI & RSTI for training, AIR Stations, Marketing Division, AIR Resource Centre, Zonal CE and DDG offices, and other parts of the website. Under the RTI Act 2005, the APIO, PIO/CPIO/Appellate authority may be contacted as the case may be, under the grievance redressal mechanism and the access system. For more details about RTI, Information and Facilitation Counter may be approached at the office.

9 List of the related websites

Name of the organization/ministry Websites address All India Radio-Organization www.allindiaradio.org All India Radio-News Services Division http://www.newsonair.com All India Radio-Resource Centre http://www.resourcesair.com Doordarshan http://www.ddindia.gov.in Ministry of Information & Broadcasting http://mib.nic.in Press Information Bureau http://pib.nic.in Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited

http://www.becil.com

10 Time frame of redress of the grievances

Subject Time(Approx.) Issue of acknowledgement / interim reply to the petitioner

1 week

Issue of formal reply to the petitioner 4 week Forwarding of the grievances / petition to the concerned authority

2 week

Final disposal of transferred / referred cases by the concerned Ministry / Department / State and time limit for informing the position of the outcome

3 months

Disposal of cases referred to the Complaint Committee on “Sexual Harassment of Women at workplace”

3 months

11 Compensation

System We will compensate citizens/customers/clients, etc., by our sincere efforts to ensure better maintenance & availability of our services in time.

12 Expectation of AIR from public/ citizens/ customers/clients.

Please interact, suggest, inform and help freely from time to time. You may enjoy the AIR services and send your feedback/comments/suggestions, if any, to the AIR authorities/at Information and Facilitation Counter/suggestion box, etc.

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13 Expectation of AIR from its own employees

To scrupulously follow the guidelines/rules/procedures to ensure better services of AIR, etc., as above and, also existing instructions of the AIR/Central Govt./Competent authorities for better delivery of the standard quality services of AIR to the public/citizens/ customers/clients, etc., in time.

14 Business Transacted

Brief report on AIR (at a glance) (Annexure-I, as per Prasar Bharati), and the Network Growth of AIR (Annexure-II) are enclosed. For further details like major activities/achievements/targets/services, etc., completed in the last year and facts at glance, please see the Annual Report of AIR.

15 Importance andvalue of All IndiaRadio (AIR):

All India Radio (AIR) has a leading role as a public service broadcaster & national service broadcaster. It is the important electronic media, which is the most powerful medium for maximum reach and conveying information/messages through the of various human development programme to the large masses in most cost effective manner. Radio waves reaches to the people at maximum speed i.e. at the speed of light waves and hence, it is the fastest means of mass communication. It takes lesser time from coverage, production to the transmission & reception. It is best suited to the music, talk, news and other audio programme including data & text transmission. It has miraculous power to stimulate & empower the large masses and excite them for taking immediate suitable action towards the national development process. It is least complicated, least expensive, most convenient and very friendly to the customers/clients. Radio sets are the cheapest & most cost effective media than any other media for getting the messages/information of mass communication. AIR specially helps & provides maximum motivation to the aggrieved, blind, aged, poor, illiterate, backward, downtrodden, ill people, and villagers, vulnerable sections of societies, mobile and alone people, etc. It also helps much to the people in trouble during disaster (natural/man made calamity).

Note: 1. This charter may be reviewed annually or as and when required or as directed by the competent authority for further continuous improvement. 2. We are committed to constantly revise and improve the services being offered under the charter with your cooperation. 3. Let us join our hands together in making this charter a grand success. Annexure (For details of business transacted): I. Brief report of AIR (at a glance) (Annexure-I) and, II. Network Growth of AIR (Annexure-II). Suggestions/comments, if any, to this Citizens’ Charter, are welcome from any one in India at [email protected] and [email protected] , within 15 days.

Page 10: Radio at a Glance

CHAPTER IV

ALL INDIA RADIO

Radio broadcasting began in India in the early 1920's.

The first programme was broadcast in 1923 by the

Radio Club of Bombay. This was followed by the

setting up of a Broadcasting Service that began

broadcasting on 23rd July, 1927 on an experimental

basis in Bombay and Calcutta, under an agreement

between the then Government of India and a private

company called the Indian Broadcasting Company

Ltd. When this company went into liquidation in 1930,

Indian State Broadcasting Service under the

Department of Controller of Broadcasts was

constituted. The Indian State Broadcasting Service was

renamed as All India Radio in January 1936.

. When India attained independence in 1947,AIRhada network of six stations and 18 transmitters. The

coverage was 2.5 % of the area and just 11% of the

population. AIR today has 222 radio stations and

356 transmitters and its coverage extends to 91.42 %by area and 99.13 % by population. Operating in a

multi-cultural, multi-linguistic country like India, AIR

broadcasts in 24 languages and 146 dialects. In

External Services, it covers 27 languages including 16

foreign languages. AIR operates its broadcasting

services on Medium Wave, Short Wave and FM. The

FM Service uses a larger bandwidth to provide a

programme service of high fidelity.

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AIR is still the most popular media, considering the

fact that it is assessible even in the remotest parts of

our country where any other media like TV or

newspapers cannot reach.

Programme objectives

In its programming and other activities, AIR is guided

by its motto "Bahujana Hitaya; Bahujana Sukhaya" i.e.

to promote the happiness and welfare of the masses

through information, education and entertainment. To

realize its objectives, AIR has evolved a three tier system

of broadcasting - national, regional and local. It caters

to the mass communication needs of the people

through its various stations spread across the country.

They provide music, spoken word, news and other

programmes. Local stations meet the area specificneeds of the listeners.

AIR Code

Broadcasts on All India Radio by individuals will

not permit:

1. Criticism of friendly countries;

2. Attack on religion or communities;

3. Anything obscene or defamatory;

4. Incitement to violence or anything against

maintenance of law and order;

5. Anything amounting to contempt of court;

6. Aspersions against the integrity of the

President, Governors and Judiciary;

7. Attack on political party by name;

8. Hostile criticism of any State or the Centre;

9. Anything showing disrespect to the

Constitution or advocating change in the

Constitution by violence.

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Page 11: Radio at a Glance

AIR Channels

All India Radio operates its services through followingchannels.

i) Primary Channels

ii) Commercial Broadcasting Service(Vividh Bharati)

iii) FM Channels

iv) Yuva Vani

v) National Channel

vi) External Services Channels

vii) Other niche channels

Primary channels

The public service broadcasting channel of AIR, the

Primary Channels put out infotainment programmes

with the objective of enriching the lives of their listeners.

The Primary Channels, broadcast largely on the

Medium Wave frequency, follow a composite

programming mix. They also promote art and culture

with a major emphasis on Indian classical music.

Around 40 percent of total broadcast on primary

channels comprises music which includes classical

music, light, folk, film and music of various other

languages. News and current affairs programmes

constitute 20 to 30 percent of the broadcast time. Radio

plays and drama, health and family programmes,

programmes on women and children, farm and home

programmes aimed at empowering rural masses are

the other important segments of Primary Channels.

These channels being the most accessible of all the

AIR channels, strive to reach their audience in the

language most understood by all.

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Vividh Bharati

The entertainment channel of AIR, Vividh Bharati

service was started in October, 1957,with popular film

music as its main ingredient. It started accepting

commercials from 1"1November, 1967. Vividh Bharati

Service provides entertainment for 15hours a day from40 Vividh Bharati stations and four Short Wave stations.

Nearly 85 percent of programming is based on music

with film music topping the chart. Classical, folk, lightand devotional music are also broadcast. Bulk of the

Vividh Bharati programming originates from Mumbai

which are relayed by other Vividh Bharati stations.

Regional stations also produce and broadcast a few

programmes at specified timings in their respective

languages. Several programmes of Vividh Bharati are

very popular, with "HelloJaimala"being a top favourite

with the armymen posted at the borders.

FM Rainbow

All India Radio operates 13PM Stereo channels in Delhi,

Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad,

Panaji, Lucknow, Cuttuck, Jalandhar, Tiruchirapalli,

Kodaikanal and Coimbatore. These channels, called

AIR FM Rainbow, provide wholesome entertainment

to the urban audience with a refreshingly new style of

presentation. Besides music - Hindi, English and

regional, the FM Channels also broadcast chat shows,

helpline programmes, interactive phone- in programmes

etc. The traffic beat and the city weather updates are of

particular interests to metro dwellers.

FM Gold

A composite news and entertainment channel calledAIR FM II was launched in 2001. The channel is on air

for 18 hours a day. These metro FM channels,

operational in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai

are now called AIR FM Gold. The programming is a

blend of information and entertainment, with one third

of its content devoted to news and current affairs.

While the hourly news bulletins in Hindi and English

originate from Delhi, the FM Gold Channels at the

other three centers also broadcast news in respective

regional languages. AIR FM Gold is positioned as a

ClassicChannel with golden oldies, ghazalsand light

classical music forming part of the entertainment

segment.

Page 12: Radio at a Glance

~ "

Yuva Vani (Voice of the Youth)

The Yuva vani service of AIR provides an enriching

and novel radio-experience by encouraging youth

participation and experimenting with varied script

ideas. With shows like 'Mehfil', 'In the groove' and

'The Roving Microphone' which have been around

for more than three decades, Yuva Vani still holds

a firm ground of its own. Some of the big names on

the Indian media scene began their journey with

'Yuva Vani. In Delhi, Yuv Vani is a separate Channel(Delhi '0') while other radio stations have a fixed time

chunk for youth broadcasts.

National Channel

The National Channel of All India Radio, in operation

since 1988, is essentially a night service that operatesas "link and information" medium to listeners at odd

hours, be it factory workers, farmers, drivers, soldiers

or students. The National Channel has now become

a 24 hour channel with day time broadcast on Short

Wave transmission. Vividh Bharati service was

introduced in night tansmission from 1st August, 2004.

External Services

As an electronic ambassador, the External Services

Division (ESD) of AIR has been a vital link between

India and the rest of the world, especially those

countries with substantial ethnic Indian population.

It ranks high among the External Radio networks of

the world, both in reach and range, covering about

100 countries in 26 languages, 16 of them foreign and

10 Indian. AIR through its external broadcasts aims

to keep the overseas listeners in touch with the ethos

of India. The languages in which AIR reaches its

foreign audience are: English, French, Russian,

Swahili, Arabic, Persian, Pashtu, Dari, Baluchi,

Sinhalese, Nepali, Tibetan, Chinese, Thai, and Bhasha

Indonesia. The services in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu,

Malayalam and Gujarati are broadcast for overseas

Indians, while those in Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi and

Bengali are meant for listeners in the Indian

Sub-continent. The General Overseas Service (GaS)

in English, AIR External Service in Hindi and Urdu

are three major services of the External ServicesDivision.

--.

The External Services broadcasts follow a composite

pattern and generally comprise news, current affairs

features, review of the Indian press, magazine

programmes on sports and literature, talks and

discussions on social, cultural, economic, political and

historical subjects. Music of all genres is also broadcast

in good measure. The ESD also supplies recordings

of music, spoken word and other programmes to about

100 foreign broadcasting organizations under

programme exchange arrangements.

DTH

12 Channels of All India Radio are currently available

on Doordarshan's Direct To Home (DTH) service-

DO Direct Plus. The channels are - Vividh Bharati,

AIR FM Rainbow, AIR FM Gold, AIR Hindi,

AIR BangIa, AIR North East, AIR Punjabi, AIR Gujarati,

AIR Marathi, AIR Telugu, AIR Tamil and

AIR Kannada. The programmes include information

and entertainment in equal measure. DTH radio marks

a major technological breakthrough, as it makes

programmes available across the country, as against

the limited geographic area coverage of medium wave

transmission. DTH, thus smashes the regional barrier

which had been hitherto hindering the reach of

language radio.

37

Amrutha Varshini

Amrutha Varshini is a dedicated music channel

operational in Bangalore. It aims to promote audience

for classical music - both Hindustani as well as

Carnatic.

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Page 13: Radio at a Glance

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News & Current Affairs on AIR

The history of news broadcasting is much older thanthat of All India Radio. The first ever news bulletin in

the country went on air from the Bombay Station on

23rd July, 1927 under the Indian Broadcasting

Company. The News Wing of All India Radio came

into existence ten years later in August 1937. NewsServices Division located in New Delhi is the hub of

all news and current affairs programming. It is

supported by 44 Regional News Units (RNUs) spread

across the country.

The Home, the Regional and the External Services of

News Services Division put out news bulletins for aduration of over 44 hours from Delhi and RNUs. More

than 75 news bulletins are broadcast in the Home

Service from Delhi. RNUs put out over 225 bulletins

daily in 66 languages/ dialects. News headlines'

on -the- hour- every -hour' are broadcast on AIR FM,

Delhi. Regional FM channels also broadcast news

headlines at regular intervals.

'AIR News-on-Phone ' service provides latest news

highlights in Hindi, English or a regional language to

a listener on phone, upon dialing a specified number.News-on-Phone service is available in Tamil from

Chennai, Telugu from Hyderabad, Bengali fromKolkata and Marathi from Mumbai. The News-on-

Phone service is being extended to Raipur, Lucknow,

Bangalore, Shimla, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Imphal,

Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram.

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NSD also puts out a number of current affairs

programmes on topical subjects. The format used are

panel discussions, Q & A, news features, radio bridgeetc. The bulk of AIR news comes from its own

correspondents spread all over the country. It has 90

regular correspondents in India and four foreign

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correspondents based at Dubai, Kabul, Kathmandu

and Colombo, AIR has 542 part-time correspondents

based at important District headquarters in the

country. NSD also subscribes to the wire services

offered by PTI, UNI and ANI.

In the late nineties, AIR also changed the format of its

news broadcast. AIR News is now more participatory

and lively with the inclusion of actualities and live

correspondents' reports. AIR News is also availableon the net at www.newsonair.com.

Sports Broadcasts on AIR

AIR is the companion of a sports lover on the move.

When cricket is on, it is a common sight to see people

moving around with a portable transistor in hand

(now also mobile phones), eager to keep themselves

abreast of the latest score. Not just cricket, AIR has

been in the forefront of providing extensive coverage

for important national and international sporting

events. Daily sports news in Hindi and English are

broadcast from Delhi. AIR has been regularly

broadcasting running commentaries on all cricket

matches involving India. It also broadcasts live

commentary of important hockey and football

tournaments and customized radio report on

Wimbledon Tennis Championship.

All India Radio and theIndian Classical Music

Even before the commencement of organized

broadcasting in India, individual effortswere on to air

'recorded music' for the consumption of a very

fortunate and chosen people in the British Raj.

Page 14: Radio at a Glance

Recording and broadcasting of music was a part of the

routine of all major radio stations of the Raj period,

which included Lahore, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras,

Travancore and Mysore.

After independence, All India Radio began to

patronize the musicians of the country. Hence

Akashvani got the opportunity to record, broadcast and

preserve the renderings of all the major musicians. The

nation witnessed an integration of a different kind

when distinct gharanaswere heard all over the country

for the first time. All India Radio today has a collectionof more than five thousand hours of Indian Classical

Music of Hindustani and Carnatic traditions. The

tradition of patronizing classical music has continued

and if the Indian classical music is popular with a

section of today's youth, All India Radio has played a

major part in it.

Akashvani Archive

The sound archive of All India Radio ranks as one of

the finest radio libraries in the world. It has about 50

thousand tapes of different formats, including 12,500

tapes of music. Some of the recordings of the maestros

of yesteryears are rare and unavailable elsewhere.

The sound archive preserves a separate collection of

important voice recordings of eminent national and

international personalities. It also has a separate

reference library of Folk and Tribal Music in all

principal languages and dialects of the country. The

main purpose of the Programme Exchange Units is to

exchange good quality programmes among stations as

per their requirements. Recordings from the archives

are now being transferred to CD format under a special

project funded by the UNESCO.

In a new initiative that has won laurels for All India

Radio, the archival recordings are being made available

to the public in the form of CDs and cassettes under the

brand name' Akashvani Sangeet'.

AIR Programmes andProgramme formats

News, music and spoken word programmes constitute

the three major pillars of AIR's programme

composition. Talks, discussions, interviews are

regularly arranged to provide a forum for all shades of

opinion on imp'ortant national and internationalissues.

Radio drama is another important ingredient of AIR's

programme as are Radio features and documentaries,

which employ the entire range of audio formats in a

single programme, e.g., narration, music, drama,

interviews, poetry, sound effects, etc.

Educational programmes of AIR cover a wide spectrum

of primary, secondary, tertiary and university levels.

Farm & Home programmes, directed at rural audience

are designed to provide information about different

aspects of agriculture, introduce new techniques of

farming and also create awareness about the ways and

means of improving quality of farmers' lives.

The vast network of 215 radio station across the country

regularly broadcast Family Welfare programmes in the

regional languages / dialects of our country. There are

Page 15: Radio at a Glance

40

, "

full-fledged Family Welfare units in 22 AIR stations to

ideate, conceptualize and produce programmes. The

combined output of all the stations of All India Radio

exceeds 15 thousand programmes every month. They

take various forms like talks, discussions, features,

quiz, jingles, spots, short stories, drama, success-stories,

phone-in programmes, etc. The themes covered include

-age of marriage, delay the first child, space between

two children, terminal methods, maternal care, child

, survival,women empowerment etc.

The afternoon programming chunk is usually reserved

for broadcasting programmes of women's interest.

Major topics covered include socio-economic

development of women, health & family welfare,

food & nutrition, scientific home management, women

entrepreneurship, education, including adult

education, gender issues etc.

All India Radio and children of Indian hinterland

share a special bond since a very long time. AIR

regularly broadcasts programmes which involve active

participation of children. A visit to the AIR studio and

talking into the microphone is a memory these children

cherish for their life. Every primary station of AIR

broadcasts programmes for children in different age

groups, beginning with tiny-tots to adolescents and

young adults. Every second Sunday of December, AIR

mounts special programmes to commemorate the

International Day of Children Broadcasting, inassociation with UNICEF.

AIR Commercial Service

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Realizing the role of advertising in supplementing

broadcasting budget, All India Radio opened its Vividh

Bharati Service in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur for spot

advertisements in 1967. Encouraged by the

overwhelming response, the service was extended to

other centres in a phased manner. Advertisements

began to be accepted on the Primary Service from 1985.Now FM Channels are also in the forefront. The vast

network of All India Radio has proved to be a cost-

effective advertising medium and several private and

public sector companies and Government Departments

have reaped the benefit of its widespread reach. AIR's

role in transforming the rual markets of India into high

potential markets, especially after the Green

Revolution, can not be over-emphasized.

In order to attract advertisers/ clients towards AIR,

Commercial Wing has introduced special rates for itsFM Channels of Southern Zone as well as combined

packaged rates for all FM Channels across the country.

A new bonus scheme for attracting higher business

was also introduced. The Commercial Wing,

alongwith the efforts of Prasar Bharati Marketing

Divisions and the Development Communications

Division, was able to rope in almost all the media-activeMinistries to advertise their schemes and services on

AIR. Several Public Sector Undertakings like BSNL,

MTNL, Indian Oil, lOBI and large private advertisers

are also present on AIR network.

AIR Resources

AIR Resources is a premier broadcast consultancy and

technology solution centre growing at a rapid pace. It

specializes in providing consultancy and turn-key

solutions in the field of broadcasting to Government as

well as private sector organizations. After helping the

private FM players to set up their transmitters in major

cities, AIR Resources has successfully commissioned

Gyan Vani FM Channels on behalf of the IGNOU.

Museum of Radio and Television

India's first Museum of Radio and Television has been

set up at the Broadcasting House in New Delhi, with

the aim of preserving the broadcasting heritage of the

country. Opened in 2001, the Museum houses rare

manuscripts of plays broadcast long ago, different

musical instruments used by the maestros performing

in AIR studios, broadcast equipments including

different forms of mikes used in the past and even theold radio sets.

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Page 16: Radio at a Glance

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Akashvani Annual Awards

Akashvani Annual Awards were instituted in 1974

with a view to promote professional excellence and to

bring out the best from the staff working at various

radio stations and installations. Awards are given for

outstanding broadcasts in different disciplines and

subjects every calendar year. There are special awards

like 'Lassa Kaul Award for National Integration',

award for best special topic documentary, best

correspondent award and awards for technical

excellence. AIR Bangalore hosted the 2004 Akashvani

Award Ceremony in December

Every year, AIR also gives away awards for Best Radio

programmes produced on Public Service topic and

Gandhian Thought. These awards are given away on

12thNovember every year, which is observed as the

'Public Service Broadcasting Day' to commemorate the

only visit of Mahatma Gandhi to the AIR Studio in1947.

Growth of radio audience (Percentage of radio listenership)

Year

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

41

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49

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5848

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53

56

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