Doordarshan’s Dishes And Setup Boxes To Fight Television War In Border Districts of Jammu and Kashmir

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has launched a major programme to install 30,000 free Doordarshan (DD) dish set-top boxes in 10 border districts along the International Border and Line of Control (LoC), reports The Hindu.

The dish antennas and set top boxes will provide access to 100 channels for free of cost, including local news channels.

The development has come up in the light of observation that in many of these areas, people can easily access Pakistani television channels from across the border but not Indian.

A local named NA Manhas from Poonch district’s Meandhar explained, “We use dish antennas. We easily access channels from across the border. Pakistani serials are very popular with the population closer to the LoC.”

Taking action, a senior Doordarshan official shared “There are undesirable channels, not approved by the Ministry, being received and watched in Jammu and Kashmir. Strategically the move will help us to reach out to people with a better alternative.”

The programme was kickstarted on 22 June by the Governor Satya Pal Malik. he distributed the first batch of set-top boxes in Srinagar and termed the initiative a major milestone towards reaching out to the local populace in the far-flung and border areas.