A CORRESPONDENT
ITANAGAR: Chief Minister Pema Khandu along with Information & Public Relation (IPR) Minister Bamang Felix flagged off five 'Mobile Digital Movie Theatres' (MDMT) at the Dorjee Khandu Convention Centre here on Thursday.
The MDMTs have been developed for the Department of IPR by the 'Picture Time Digiplex Company' at an estimated cost of Rs 95 lakh each.
Addressing the gathering, Khandu informed that the project of procuring the MDMT was planned in 2018. He added that the basic idea of procuring the entire system was to expand the reach of entertainment and education through digital platforms to the rural areas of the State.
''This initiative will help to disseminate the policies of the Central and State governments among the rural populace. I hope this approach will provide empowerment in the greater interest of the State,'' he said, adding that the government will review the impact of the approach, and accordingly include more such vehicles if needed. He also appreciated the Department of IPR for an informative approach for the dissemination of information to the people in rural areas.
Speaking to the reporters, IPR Minister Bamang Felix said that the MDMT will be used in the districts of Namsai, East Siang, Tawang, Lower Subansiri and Kurung Kumey. He said that the digital movie theatre will be functional in places where there is no Internet access as it is installed with V-SAT. He also said that the IPR department is working on framing the guidelines to use of MDMT in different districts and accordingly to generate income out of it. The revenue will be generated from the department who will be using it, and not from the public.
''Any department can use the MDMTs under the Information, Education & Communication (IEC) campaign. It can accommodate around 300 people without chairs. The project will help in the widespread broadcast of the schemes and programmes,'' he pointed out.
Founder & CEO of 'Pictures Time', Sushil Chaudhry said that the MDMT is an 'Edu-Infotainment system' which will provide education and information, added with entertainment. He said that a single MDMT machine which is DCA compliance application was made for an amount of Rs 95 lakh. He added that during designing of the entire system, aspects like cost, experience and reach were the top concerns. The system will provide the same quality of a multiplex, he added.
''We will run the theatre for three years in the State as an agreement signed with the Arunachal Pradesh government. According to the performance, we will look into increasing the term of usage of the theatre in the State,'' he said, adding that the team will guide the locals to use the machine as an approach to local empowerment. He also said that the theatre will provide a platform to promote local movies.