Public service broadcasting in India

All India Radio (AIR) is facing an uncertain future, according to Abhijit Bora, a media analyst and lecturer at Gauhati University, in Assam. Speaking at the RadioAsia conference in Singapore, he said that AIR was struggling in the face of stiff competition from commercial rivals and an indifferent government.

The government controlled AIR was the chief provider of news and information to Indians for almost 70 years. It has a near 100 per cent penetration of the country and broadcasts in 21 local languages and 146 Indian dialects.

The landscape changed dramatically, though, in 1995, when the Supreme Court of India ruled that the airwaves were public property. The Court’s decision implied that the government should not be allowed to monopolize radio.

The ruling opened the floodgates and requests have come pouring in from private companies and community groups alike for FM licences. Even foreign broadcasters have joined in, with the BBC alone acquiring seven licences.

They will be joined by many more, as the government is preparing to accept bids for another 340 FM stations. Under Indian legislation, none of the private, foreign-owned or community stations will be allowed to carry news bulletins.

Abhijit Bora expressed concern that the liberalization of the airwaves could affect national unity, as well as depriving hundreds of millions of people of an important source of education. He said that from its earliest days, in the 1930s, AIR had not only brought Indians closer together, but also “played an important role as an Open University for people in rural areas.”

Around 70 per cent of Indians live in remote areas, while 60 per cent are illiterate. Poverty and other factors prevent many adults from acquiring a formal education.

Abhijit Bora said that commercial broadcasters were interested only in playing Bollywood songs, while community and educational stations did not have the resources or backing to assume AIR’s mantle. Several speakers had earlier accused the private FM stations of lacking imagination and of all sounding the same.

Abhijit Bora complained that the government had turned its back on radio, in favour of aiding the expansion of cable TV.

The government was withdrawing funding for radio to encourage AIR to generate its own revenues. However, Abhijit Bora claimed that AIR lacked both the experience and the know-how needed to exploit business opportunities and attract advertisers.

He suggested the situation was further complicated because despite everything, the government still relied on AIR to reach voters in remote areas. The irony was that AIR continued to suffer from its image as a government mouthpiece, which made finding its own feet harder still.

Public service broadcasting in India, concluded Abhijit Bora, "was not an encouraging scenario."