ITANAGAR, Oct 1: Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein said that the state government will give every possible support for the improvement of All India Radio (AIR) services in Arunachal Pradesh.
Mein, who launched the extended Arun FM Transmission at All India Radio, Itanagar on Sunday, said that Arun FM (103.1 MHZ) will be an effective medium for dissemination of information on government activities, programmes and policies to the people of the state.
He appealed to the government as well as the private agencies to make best use of the Arun FM services for highlighting their activities and reaching out to the people, and assured to allocate some fund provisions for AIR Itanagar in the coming budget and asked the AIR officials to send proposals.
Mein also asked them to engage young talents of the state in their programme as AIR Itanagar has been an effective platform for the local artists to grow.
He said that he would also request the union government to set up radio stations with FM Transmission in all the districts.
During his speech, Mein mentioned how effectively the Prime Minister is using AIR to reach out to the people across the country through his popular radio programme “Mann Ki Baat” and requested the people to listen to it carefully.
Chairman of Hydropower Development Corporation Tungri Effa, said that radio remains the only popular medium of entertainment and source of information in many remote places, where newspapers hardly reach.
He requested the government to set up radio stations in remote districts too in order to keep them informed about the development activities of the state.
“AIR Itanagar was started in a kutcha house in 1986 in Naharlagun. It was shifted to the present location in 1996. Initially it started with 1 KW MW transmitter and later it was upgraded to 200 MW”, informed Programme Head, J B Nabam.
He further informed that Arun FM is a part of vigorous initiative taken up by the Director General of All India Radio to improve the quality of broadcast. Initially Arun FM will air its own programs from AIR Itanagar for seven hours. It will be extended to at least 13 hours of broadcast on its own 10 KW transmitter very soon, which will give aerial coverage of at least 40km radius.
He said that programmes will be broadcast in 16 dialects with three new local languages, namely Hrusso, Sajolang and Tutsa, which will consist of news bulletins in 11 languages besides updating of news headlines every hour.
He further stated that AIR Itanagar is also presently transmitting programme on FM for almost 24 X 7 by relaying FM Vividh Bharati on its 100 Watt FM Transmitter. He also informed that two new AIR stations are coming up at Daporijo and Changlang soon.
K Morang, Director (Engineer) of Doordarshan Kendra, Itanagar, Sanjay Koul, Engineer Head, AIR Itanagar and Senior Radio Artists, Bengia Hemanta and Taba Yall Nabam also shared their views and experiences with All India Radio, Itanagar.
