At a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pitching for Digital India both at home and abroad, public broadcaster Prasar Bharati is lacking funds for complete digitisation of AIRnetworks and 100 per cent coverage by FM signal.

The requirement of Rs 4179 crore has not been allocated as a result of which, the digitisation plan has been shifted further and is expected to be completed only by December, 2018.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology has already underlined that the Prasar Bharatis rejuvenation and revitalization would not happen unless its efficiency andquality of broadcast was improved through complete digitisation.

The Committee has also urged the Ministry to make earnest efforts so that all planned schemes for modernisation of AIR and Doordarshan were implemented during the Twelfth Plan Period.

It has asked the Ministry to apprise it of the steps taken to bring its Primary, Vividh Bharati and Gold/Rainbow services on FM on Pan India basis in view of the current FM coverage which is only 45 per cent by population.

One of the focal points of successive reports of the Committee has been the modernisation of All India Radio and Doordarshan.

However, for the Twelfth Plan period, the Government have allocated Rs 2252 crore for All India Radio for modernisation/expansion of its infrastructure which include Rs 1020 crore for the new schemes under the Twelfth Plan and Rs 1232 crore for the continuing schemes of the Tenth and Eleventh Plans.

At present, the schemes which are under implementation include Digitalization of Transmitters and

Studios in Doordarshan Network, High Definition Television (HDTV), Modernization, Augmentation and Replacement of Transmitter and Studio equipment, Modernization, Augmentation and Replacement of Satellite Broadcast equipment and DTH Service, etc.

The Committee recommended that the remaining works related to digitisation of Medium Wave (MW) and Short Wave (SW) Transmitters, studios and digitisation of connectivity are completed within the time limits prescribed under the Twelfth Plan.

While pitching for more financial support to Prasar Bharati, the Committee has pointed out that both AIR and Doordarshan, as national broadcasters, were playing a crucial role in the socio-economic development of the country because of their extensive reach across the masses, particularly in the rural and far flung areas of the country.

Meanwhile, listenership of Radio has moved over to FM which not only provides high quality reception but is also available on mobile phones numbering 900 million approximately
 

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