Guwahati: Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar today launched Doordarshan (DD) Assam, a 24-hour dedicated channel for the State, via video conferencing from New Delhi today.
"The channel is a gift to people of Assam and this channel will cater to all sections of the population of Assam and will be immensely popular.", Javadekar said during the launch.
The Minister said that it is important that all States have their own Doordarshan channel. The channels of other States are available on DD Free Dish. The Minister applauded the programmes on six national channels of Doordarshan.
Re-iterating Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's vision of turning North East into India's growth engine, Javadekar said that the region has immense natural and human resource potential, and the connectivity has been improving steadily.
The Chief Minister of Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal, called it a significant day for the people of Assam. "This channel will boost the growth of Assam in all spheres of human activities, while at the same time helping percolate the initiatives and programmes of the Government to grassroots", Sonowal said.
Professor Jagdish Mukhi, Governor of Assam, said, "it is a happy moment for all of us in Assam because the public broadcaster is adding a feather to its kitty with the launch of DD Assam."
It needs mention here that DD North East channel was conceived as 24x7 composite channels by Prasar Bharati for all 8 States of North East Region, and commissioned on November 1, 1990, and launched on August 15, 1994. It was made a 24 hours channel from December 27, 2000.
DD ArunPrabha channel was later introduced for Arunachal Pradesh in 2019 and is being beamed from Itanagar, the capital of the frontier state.
Subsequently, PrasarBharati decided to put all the other limited hours channels originating from capital of different North-Eastern States on 'DD Free Dish" to have national connect. Five channels for states of North-Eastern region namely, DD Meghalaya, DD Mizoram, DD Tripura, DD Manipur and DD Nagaland beamed from Doordarshan Kendra Shillong, Aizawl, Agartala, Imphal, Kohima respectively have been placed on DD FreeDish (DTH) Platform from March 9 of this year.
DD North East channel was repurposed into an exclusive channel for Assam. This 24X7 channel will have around 6 hours of fresh Assamese programming with specific slots for languages such as Bodo. Test transmission of DD Assam commenced from 1st December 2019.
Meanwhile, efforts are being made to telecast attractive content on DD Assam which will include mega-serials, music programmes, travelogues, reality shows, feature films etc. The content thus will have ethnic touch highlighting cuisine, textiles, folk culture and tribal life of the region.