NEW DELHI: At the initiative of Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh, a proposal has been moved for setting up All-India Radio Station at Udhampur through Prasar Bharti.
The district administration has already identified a piece of land in the city premises and the process of land acquisition will begin shortly.
Addressing the inaugural session of one-day seminar organised by Federation of Community Radio Stations here on Thursday, Dr Jitendra appreciated Director General Prasar Bharti, Fayaz Sheheryar and Deputy Commissioner Udhampur, Dr Shahid Iqbal for earnestly following up the matter.
Dr Singh said, Udhampur Radio Station will be in addition to 15 FM radio channels which were part of the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley last year.
He said, out of these 15 new regional FM radio channels, three each have been earmarked for Kathua and Bhadarwah while other nine for Leh, Kargil and Poonch.
All these channels are to be allotted through second phase bidding, he added.
At the same time, Dr Jitendra said, on the request of MLA Bhadarwah, Dilip Singh Parihar and some civil society members, a representation has been made to increase the frequency of radio transmitter of Bhadarwah Radio Station.
While complimenting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dr Singh said, the regular monthly broadcast ‘Mann Ki Baat’ has not only contributed to an upsurge in radio listenership but has also compelled the television channels to broadcast ‘Mann Ki Baat’ live.
The programme was compered by Ramesh Hangloo who owes the credit for having launched the first-ever community radio station of J and K State from Jammu.