Chief Minister for increasing the slot of local bulletin on AIR

Shimla, Apr 6 (UNI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, has requested the Centre Government to increase the time slot of 7.50 P.M. radio news for existing 10 to 15th minutes, keeping in view the large listenership of the main news.

This was disclosed by Chief Minister while interacting with Mr B.S. Lalli, Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharti who called on him here Friday evening.

Mr Dhumal said that keeping in view the difficult topographic conditions and in order to ensure greater coverage of Radio and Doordarshan, FM network need to be strengthened. He said that for increasing the coverage and also to enhance reception quality, more Low Power FM Transmitters are needed to be installed in the State.

He said that to cater to the needs of the people residing in tribal and far-flung areas, atleast 30 more FM Radio LPTs should be installed in these areas.

He said that the DTH network is the biggest in the country, but the Doordarshan Kendra Shimla is still not available through DTH. He said that it should also be brought under the fold of DTH in order to ensure wider coverage of Doordarshan Programmes.

Mr B.S. Lalli CEO, Parsar Bharti apprised the Chief Minister that objectivity and accuracy of Parsar Bharti was the best in the country as well as the State. He said that DD and AIR News have been rated as No. I in the entire country in terms of viewership and credibility.

Mr J.R. Katwal, Director Information and Public Relations was also present on the occasion.

UNI AS VN1059