NEW DELHI: Work on installing nine new high power television transmitters in the border areas of four northern states is being speeded up to counter Pakistan’s propaganda war against India.
A strategy is being chalked out by the information and broadcasting ministry to tackle the intrusion of Pakistan television in the country through the Asia satellite and the adverse propaganda blitz.
High priority is being given to the extension of radio and TV services in the border areas of northern India till the time that the services of Insat-2A is made available sometime this year. Which will widen the reach of the television programs to cover the entire subcontinent according to official sources.
The transmitters which are under various stages of implementation are located at Leh Sankoo Dras Timsogam and Nagrota (all in J and K) Barmer and Jaisalmer (Rajasthan) Bhuj (Gujarat) and Fazilka (Punjat). Rupees 30 crore has been allocated for these projects. Atpresent 20 radio transmitters and nine TV transmitters are functioning under the scheme of border coverage. New transmitters are also being setup in other border areas of the country at a cost of Rs 10 crore including at Gangto (Sikkim) Churachandpur (Manipur) Lungleh (Mizoram) Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu) Phek (Nagaland) and Bongaigon Assam).
In the border areas of the north some of the new radio transmitters being set up are located at Kargil and Poonch (J and K) Barmer Jaisalmer Jaipur and Bikaner (All Rajasthan).
Besides transmitting Indian television programs the feasibility of the high power TY transmitters to block the inflammatory broadcasts from Pakistan are being studied.
According to official sources while the Indian government will allow the reception of the Pakistan programs in general as there was no law against this kind of encroachment of space it will certainly block jam or intercept all negative news from Pakistan.
The deputy information and broadcasting minister Ms Girija Vyas said in Bombay Saturday that it was government s resolve to stop reception in India of programs telecast by Pakistan for propaganda purposes. The installation of the high power TV transmitters is seen as a first step in this direction.
According to reports the type of propaganda war included inflammatory and communal news broadcasts blatantly inciting violence and provoking people in the border areas of India. These programs are now being picked up by the hundreds in Indian homes even in metropolitan cities with the mushrooming cable TV networks.
AS a broad strategy several suggestions have been mentioned to counter the satellite invasion and to regularize cable TV.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 21, 1992
