Doordarshan rolls out 'special programmes' for Bihar elections

New Delhi, Oct 18: With high-pitch Bihar elections underway, public broadcaster Doordarshan news has rolled out a variety of special programmes.

Officials said the public broadcaster launched a special Bihar Election programme on 22nd August--'Bihar Ka Mahasangram'. [Bihar Election 2015: Special Coverage]

This one hour show talked about political landscape, previous results, main contenders etc. Another half-an-hour programme launched by Doordarshan News is 'Zila Zila' - which tries to give a macro picture of districts of Bihar.

"In every episode an attempt is made to pick two districts and provide political, social, economic and historical background of districts including demographics, number of assembly seats, previous results etc. The focus is on what people think about development, the problems they face and issues important for them," an official said.

This program is being run on Saturdays and Sundays. "Being a public broadcaster, one of the aims of the programmes is to spread awareness.

Also attempt is made to reflect the aspirations of all sections of society in the state including the youth at micro as well as macro level," said K G Suresh, senior consulting editor at DD News.

Another show titled 'Rankshetra' - showcases important constituencies and key contests, with a focus on developmental angle.

The reporters interact with people at one place and capture their view point in local settings, officials said. 'Mera Bihar' is another programme which showcases the viewpoint of generation next from various university/college campuses of Bihar.

It was launched on 15th September. 'Janadesh' is another half-an-hour programme which, apart from showing top headlines related to the election, has a discussion on a topic chosen every day.

In 'Chunavi Chaupal', the reporters try to reach out to the poorest and the weaker sections of the society to know their point of view.

The public broadcaster has also lined up another programme 'Chunav Express' wherein 10 top election-related stories of the day will be telecast in fast news format.

PTI