Srinagar, Oct 6: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Saturday lauded the “stupendous” work of the Srinagar stations of All India Radio and Doordarshan in “restoring normalcy and peace” in the state.

             “The way the two stations withstand difficulties to run their programmes and keep people abreast with the facts during the militancy is laudable,” Omar said after launching 10 MW FM Channel-2 of the local station of All India Radio popularly known as “Radio Kashmir” here.Giving full credit to Radio Kashmir and Srinagar station of Doordarshan for “braving challenging circumstances” and “keeping the broadcasting and telecasting stations functional during bad times”, the Chief Minister said the staff and officers had to pay “heavy price for the same.”“You became the voice of people and worked for showing light to them in dark days," he said.
Describing launch of FM Channel-2 as yet another step of Radio Kashmir to enhance its reach and provide entertainment to the people, Omar said there is a greater potential for encouraging private FM stations in the state.

           He expressed hope that Radio Kashmir and Doordarshan would focus on producing more informative, educative and attractive programmes.
Omar mentioned "Shahrbeen", a current affairs programme of Radio Kashmir, and appreciated its production.
The Chief Minister said Jammu and Kashmir is abode ofdifferent cultures and languages, as such, Radio Kashmir and Doordarshan has to reach to every area and formulate programmes in different languages.

           "I am happy to note that the programmes presently broadcast and telecast take care of this requirement," he said emphasising the need for its further upgrading and improvement.He said the reach of Radio Kashmir is quite enormous."I have been told that people across the border also like listening programmes of Radio Kashmir which is of significant importance. You can touch the hearts of people across the border by providing balanced and informative programmes to them," Omar said.

         The Chief Minister appreciated the efforts of Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting for helping Doordarshan and Radio Kashmir to expand their programmes and broad-base their coverage across the state.He congratulated Prasar Bharti for this initiative and hoped that more FM Channels will come in near future in the state.

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