New North-East channel has to battle those from across the border

Arunachal Pradesh Information and Public Relations Minister Takam Sanjoy, Mizoram Information Minister R. Lalthangliana and Nagaland Information Minister Thomas Ngullie echoed his sentiments.

“When I switch on the TV set in my home constituency of Palin, close to the Chinese border, I don’t get Doordarshan. Instead, I get to see programmes beamed by Chinese TV channels. In Changlang and Tirap, people get the Myanmarese channels more easily than Doordarshan,” Sanjoy pointed out.

While Lalthangliana preffered to term it an invasion and propaganda from across the border, Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta termed it “psychological warfare waged by hostile foreign countries on our people through the electronic media,” and wondered exactly when Doordarshan would be able to counter this “menace”.

His Manipur counterpart W. Nipamacha Singh went one step forward and alleged that the “Dilliwallahs” were neglecting the North-East to such an extent that the people of the region were even deprived of watching the country’s official television channel.

Sushma tried to couter these allegations and complaints, saying these were the very reasons that the Doordarshan had launched an exclusive North-East channel that would be available 24 hours a day. “One of the first things that I wanted Prasar Bharati to do immediately after I took over charge was to find out exactly how the people of the North-East were catered to and shown on television. The 24-hour North-East channel is the first step towards achieving this goal,” she claimed.

The new channel would not only focus on the rich cultural heritage of the people of the region, but would also focus on other positive aspects, including helping find solutions to the burning issues. “The new channel will also telecast programmes based on different personalities of the North-East who have been working for the country despite facing various odds,” she said.

None of this cut much ice with the minsters. The claims seemed to fall flat in vew of the fact that the new channel will not reach the people it was meant for because it is a satellite chanel and viewers will be dependent on cable operators to be able to watch it.

As a parting shot, Mahanta told Sushma that it was now up to the I&B Ministry to ensure that cable operators did make the channel available to the ordinary people of the North-East.

Sushma, however, has assured that it would be binding on the cable operators to air it, and violation of this rul would invite punitive action.