Sniff PoK signals, I&B alerts CMS

The Central Monitoring Service (CMS) finds itself pitchforked centrestage as its officers are asked to keep a close watch on radio stations spewing anti-India venom from across the border. The service, functioning directly under the Information and Broadcasting ministry, got the instructions to focus on radio stations operating from Gilgit and Muzaffarabad just a few days ago. ‘‘Officials have been asked to identify and tune in to to radio stations in the PoK,’’ sources in the ministry said.

And it’s not just the monitoring service. Ever since the Kaluchak massacre, senior officials in the Prasar Bharati Corporation and officials from the Ministry of Defence, PRO Defence, and MEA spokesperson Nirupama Rao have been holding meetings over the past three days, working out ways of strengthening and disseminating information and countering misinformation on Doordarshan’s platform.

Ever since the closure of its 24-hour news and current affairs channel, the focus has shifted to the main channel which telecasts news by the hour and is watched by over 50 per cent of the population. Correspondents of All India Radio and Doordarshan, stationed in border areas, have been asked to double up their efforts.

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Once described as the eyes and ears of the country, the CMS was in danger of being closed down. Now with tension escalating across the border, it has been pushed into service again. Till now, it monitored Radio Azad Kashmir and Sada-e-Hurriyat-e-Kashmir, two radio stations operating from the PoK.

Now it has been asked to keep a lookout for other radio stations. ‘‘We have 35 monitors to observe television channels. Most of them monitor channels operating from India,’’ sources said.