DD programme among village doctors' Prescriptions against malaria

New Delhi, Oct 8 (UNI) Doordarshan, preparing to ink an MoU with the Health Ministry for the production of the popular rural health programme 'Kalyani' for one more year, has all reasons to feel elated.

The programme, which is the longest running health communication initiative in the countrty, is bringing a hefty revenue to DD besides achieving unparallel impact on viewers, which has earned many national and international honour for the public broadcaster.

It is being produced in nine state capitals since 2002.

Along with medicines, Kalyani is today a favourite prescription of doctors working in villages of the northern Indian belt.

In fact malaria tablet in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh has acquired the nickname of Kalyani. Doctors prescribe watching Kalyani to their patients in villages.

The health awareness programme has been disseminating messages in entertaining format and in local language on major health concerns of the country among more than 550 million people of the country.

It has demonstrated that media can actually effect changes at a rapid pace by creating partners in the field, and it has done that through 1798 Kalyani clubs, which have often more women than men as members.

It has created many firsts in public service broadcasting by using television as a tool to create awareness and effect behaviour change rather than using television production as an end.

''It is the first longest running inhouse production campaign of Doordarshan, and it generated a revenue of Rs 192 crore for us last year,'' Senior programme director of Doordarshan Usha Bhasin said here.

It is the first collaboration between policy makers, service providers and braodcasters, and also DD's first non-didactic entertaining health programme, she said.

''We take doctors to villages to have direct interaction with villagers,'' ''This ia a truly reality TV show,'' she added.

Today Kalyani has more viewership than DD's regional news which is the most watched programme in the country.

''When Kalyani is being aired, village streets are deserted, reminding one of the days of telecast of Ramayan and Mahabharat serials,'' says a villager from Orissa.

Ms Bhasin said DD gives 250 per cent bonus to its client ministries in the form of airtime. A number of ministries and pSUs are taking advantage of the scheme.

She said campaign against malaria is given maximum time and money.

Ms Bhasin said village Panchayats, Mahila Mandals, Nehru Yuvak Kendras had joined DD in taking Kalyani to remote villages.

Ms Bhasin said the programme was conceived after the DD started feeling the financial crunch as government support was stopped after it became autonomous under the Prasar Bharati Act, DD had to compete with private players for getting assingnments from the Ministry and other government departments.

Earlier, Doordarshan used to air government programmes free of cost, but after the Prasar Bharati Act, the practice beacame uniable and the public broadcaster had to inject some commercialism to earn revenue to survive.

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