NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Civil Aviation has written to Indian airlines and airports requesting that they play Indian music on board, following a request from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) last week
Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary of Ministry of Civil Aviation, wrote a letter on December 27 that "it is urged to please consider playing Indian music in aircraft operating in India and at airports following the regulatory requisites."
"Indian music covers several genres in multiple sorts and forms, which include classical music, folk, light vocal, and instrumental," the letter added, however, the Ministry did not clarify what music would be considered Indian.
In the presence of various performers and singers, ICCR President and BJP MP in Rajya Sabha Vinay Sahasrabuddhe handed up a letter to Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia last week. "It is quite regrettable that most aircraft in India, private and government-owned, as well as domestic and international, rarely, if ever, play Indian music," the letter stated. Our music reflects our rich history and past, and it is one of the many things that every Indian can be proud of."
Artists and musicians, including Anu Malik, Kaushal S Inamdar, Malini Awasthi, Shounak Abhisheki, Manjusha Patil K, Sanjeev Abhyankar, Rita Ganguly, and Wasifuddin Dagar were also present during the meeting on December 23 and were signatories to the letter.
The government advisory was welcomed by Ajay Awtaney, founder and editor of the aviation website Live from A Lounge, but he said it remained to be seen how well it would be taken by Indian passengers. "In India, airlines typically play piped music during the boarding and descent phases of a flight, although only a few of them do so. Vistara's signature piece, for example, incorporates Indian classical music... It's possible that other airlines will follow suit."
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