Over 100 cr people have listened to PM's 'Mann Ki Baat' at least once

Over 100 crore people have listened to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat at least once, while 23 crore people tune in to the programme regularly, a study by IIM-Rohtak has revealed.

Mann Ki Baat, a popular outreach programme by the PM Modi debuted on October 3, 2014, and has become AIR's regular broadcast on the last Sunday of every month. 'Mann Ki Baat' will celebrate its 100th edition this coming Sunday.

According to the survey, the Prime Minister has been credited by the population of the country as knowledgeable and having sympathetic and empathetic approach. Directly engagement with the citizens and guidance is also cited as a reason for the trust the programme has established.

The report delves into the reasons behind the popularity of PM's radio broadcast and lists out the most liked characteristics that hook people to the broadcast. A powerful and decisive leadership that speaks to establish an emotional connect with the audience is cited as reason for the following of the programme.

The study has tried to gauge the impact Mann Ki Baat has had on the population over the 99 editions so far. It states that a majority of listeners have become aware of governments working and 73 per cent are optimistic and feel the country is going to progress. 58 per cent of listeners have responded saying their living conditions have improved while a similar number (59 per cent) have reported increased trust in Government.

The general sentiment towards the Government can be gauged from the fact that 63 per cent people have said their approach to the Government has become positive and 60% have shown interest in working for nation building as per the survey.

The study distributes the audience across 3 platforms with 44.7 per cent people tuning in to the programme on a TV while 37.6 per cent access it on a mobile device. Viewing the programme is favoured over listening to it, as 62 per cent of the respondents between the age of 19 to 34 preferred watching it on a TV.

Hindi grabs a major chunk of listeners of Mann Ki Baat with 65 per cent audience preferring it over any other language while English comes in at second place with 18 per cent.

Speaking about the profile of respondents, IIM Rohtak Director Dheeraj Sharma informed that the total sample strength of 10,003 was polled for this study of which 60 per cent were males while 40 per cent were females. This population was spread over 68 occupations sectors with 64 per cent being from the informal and self-employed sector while students constituted 23 per cent of the studied audience.

The radio show is broadcasted in 11 foreign languages also

Apart from 22 Indian languages and 29 dialects, Mann Ki Baat is broadcast in 11 Foreign languages excluding English namely, French, Chinese, Indonesian, Tibetan, Burmese, Baluchi, Arabic, Pashtu, Persian, Dari and Swahili.

CEO, Prasar Bharati Gaurav Dwivedi informed that the Mann ki Baat is being broadcast by more than 500 broadcast centers of All India Radio.

Going into the thought process behind commissioning of the study, Dwivedi stated that that from time to time there was a thought that we must get more well-rounded feedback in terms of the overall programme and not for particular episodes only.