VoA to switch off Hindi broadcast

This may come as a shock to millions of Hindi radio fans worldwide...

This may come as a shock to millions of Hindi radio fans worldwide, Even as the Indo-US relationship scales a new peak, the popular Hindi service of the Voice of America seems all set to be closed down in six months, after being on air for more than four decades.

In its annual budget, the Broadcasting Board of Governors has said it will close down VoA’s Hindi radio broadcasts along with four others—Turkish, Thai, Greek and Croatian. Although it is still under Congressional review, it is unlikely that the lawmakers would go against the board’s decision.

At the same time, VoA’s Urdu service is being increased to 18 hours a day, including a special six-hour broadcast for the tribal areas of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The duration of the Hindi service is one hour and 30 minutes.

A group of Hindi-lovers and some of the staff of the Hindi service have embarked on a campaign to protest against the a decision. Ashok Sarin, an employee of the Hindi Service, has sent a fax to a large number of Indian-Americans worldwide, which says, “It is in the interest of the US public diplomacy that VoA continues to interact with tens of millions of Indian Hindi radio listeners and tell them the truth about American policy on issues and developments that are of great interest to Indian public.”

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