MAJOR POLICY
INITIATIVES IN BROADCASTING SECTOR
FM
BROADCASTING PRIVATISED
INDUSTRY
STATUS TO ENTERTAINMENT SECTOR
FDI
IN PRINT MEDIA AND FILM SECTORS ALLOWED
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Three Years of Government
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The Ministry of Information
and Broadcasting is the nodal Ministry for the Information, Broadcasting
and Entertainment (including Films) sectors. The functions of
the three sectors are complementary to each other and cannot be
strictly compartmentalized. In the last few years, the rapid advances
being made globally in the Entertainment and Broadcasting sectors
have transformed the role of the Ministry from an information
disseminator to a facilitator of economic growth.
Industry Status
to Entertainment Sector
One of
the major policy initiatives has been the granting of the 'Industry
Status' to the Entertainment Sector (which includes the Film Sector).
Institutional finance and other facilities are now available to
the Sector. The Industrial Development Bank of India has already
started financing film and other entertainment projects. Apart
from encouraging corporatisation, the industry status for the
Entertainment Sector, will also help in providing clean credit
for new projects.
Exports
Export
of Indian entertainment product including films, music and animation
capability has been actively encouraged by the Government. Apart
from participation in Film Festivals and Markets abroad, a partnership
with the Industry has been established through the aegis of FICCI
and CII to make further inroads into the global market. In the
last three years, besides substantial increase in export revenue,
there has been recognition of Indian films at Cannes, Locarno
and in other parts of the world.
Foreign Direct
Investment (FDI) in Film and Advertising
Recognizing the growth
and employment generation potential, 100 per cent FDI has been
permitted in the film and advertising sectors through the automatic
approval route. It is envisaged that foreign participation would
help in setting up of multiplexes, financing and production of
films and in other related areas.
Up-linking Policy
Liberalized
A new
and pragmatic Up-linking Policy was introduced which permits all
TV channels to up-link from India. Taking advantage of this Policy
77 channels have received permission for up-linking from India.
In addition, India is envisaged to become an up-linking hub. For
this purpose 49 per cent FDI has been permitted in Indian companies
setting up teleports. A total of 16 teleports have been approved
already.
Direct-to-home
Television
The Government
has opened up direct-to-home transmission service in the KU band.
This will enable greater choice to the consumer for television
content.
Regulation of
Cable TV
The Cable
TV Networks Amendment Bill for addressability in cable television
viewing was recently introduced in the Parliament and passed by
the Lok Sabha. This Bill is an effort towards regulating the cable
television industry and for protecting the interest of the consumer.
The provisions of the Bill aim at providing a choice to the consumer,
to pay for only those channels he wishes to see.
Radio Broadcasting
Opened Up
In order
to diversify radio services and provide choices in entertainment
to the people, FM broadcasting has been opened up for the private
broadcasters. Five private FM Channels at Mumbai and one each
at Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Indore have been operationalised.
All India Radio has also launched its 2nd FM Channel
providing both news and entertainment content.
Improving Prasar
Bharati Infrastructure
A special package
of Rs. 430 crores for improvement of AIR/Doordarshan infrastructure
in Jammu & Kashmir was approved and is in its last stage of
implementation. Another package for improvement of the AIR/Doordarshan
infrastructure in the North-East region (including Sikkim and
Island territories) has been approved in principle for implementation
during the 10th Five Year Plan. In the North-Eastern
region, a scheme for establishment of 160 cable head-ends in select
villages has been taken up. In the last three years, 275 new TV
transmitters have been installed and 11 new studios have been
set up. DD Metro coverage increased from 13 to 37.7 per cent of
the population. The concept of narrowcasting for telecast of special
programmes for rural areas will become a reality with the introduction
of this service from 9 TV stations this month. Induction of digital
based technology by AIR by launching of digital 'direct to home'
satellite service, as also digital based programme production
facilities and digital storage of Archival Audio material has
also commenced.
New Channels on
Doordarshan
Twenty-four
hours satellite channels have been launched in Gujarati, Bangla,
Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, Punjabi and Oriya.
Kashmir Channel, 24 hours North-East channel and DD-India have
also been launched. A State network service has been launched
in the new States of Chattisgarh and Jharkhand. A similar service
will be launched this year for Uttaranchal. Coverage of DD India
is being extended to major parts of the world. A special Sports
channel has also been launched. The DD Bharati channel has been
launched to focus on children, health, art and culture.
FDI in Print Media
A comprehensive
review of the policy on allowing foreign investment in the print
media was carried out. It has been decided to allow publication
of Indian editions of foreign scientific/technical/specialised
journals on a case-by-case basis. Foreign investment has been
allowed upto 74 per cent in Indian entities publishing scientific/technical/specialised
journals. FDI upto 26 per cent has also been allowed in Indian
entities publishing newspapers/periodicals dealing with news and
current affairs, subject to certain pre-conditions.
Journalist Welfare
Fund
The Journalist
Welfare Fund has been set up with a corpus of Rs. 5 crore, with
a view to providing immediate relief to the families of journalists
who suffer loss of life or permanent disability rendering them
incapable of discharging duties.
Media Reach in
New States
Offices
of PIB, DAVP, S&DD and DFP have been set up in the capitals
of the newly created States of Uttaranchal, Chattisgarh and Jharkhand.
The AIR and Doordarshan facilities in these States have also been
upgraded.
Press Information
Bureau
The foundation
stone for the National Press Centre was laid by the Prime Minister,
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in New Delhi. Such Press Centres exist
in major capitals of the world. The National Press Centre is to
be located at a very central place within easy reach of Parliament,
the Central Secretariat and various media organisations. The Centre
will have the State-of-the-art facilities for facilitating the
work of the media.
The Bureau organized
multimedia publicity, inter alia, for Gujarat Earthquake Relief,
Women Empowerment Year, National Film Awards, International Film
Festivals, President Clinton's visit, General and Railway Budgets,
Kargil War, formation of new States of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand
and Uttaranchal and other major policy initiatives of the Government.
Publication Division
The Publications
Division released an interactive CD in October, 1999 containing
writings of Mahatma Gandhi, Film Clippings, photographs and a
virtual reality tour of Sabarmati Ashram. The Division published
books on Great Lives-Great Words, Empowering the Indian Women
and Biographies of Dr. C. Rajagopalachari, Bidhan Chandra Roy,
Subhash Chandra Bose, Jai Prakash Narayan and Pandit Deen Dayal
Upadhyaya.
Advertising and
Visual Publicity
The Directorate
of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) introduced a simplified
Advertising Policy to bring about greater transparency, to simplify
the procedure for empanelment and to tighten circulation check
of newspapers. A brochure - 'Government of India's Welfare Schemes
to Meet Your Needs' - collating welfare schemes of all Ministries/Departments
at one place was brought out. DAVP carried out a special campaign
immediately after the Gujarat earthquake for calling upon the
people to donate generously for earthquake victims. A major campaign
was also undertaken as a part of celebrations of 50 years of India's
Republic.
Photo Division
The Photo
Division undertook extensive photo coverage of PM's visits to
several countries including the USA, Italy, Vietnam, Indonesia,
Bangladesh, Nepal, South Africa, Mauritius, Maldives and also
to visiting dignitaries. A number of photographs on the varied
activities of the general election were released to the press
for publicity purpose. The Division organised the photo exhibition
titled ' A Movement of heroism in Kargil'. The Division is also
placing photographs on the internet through the PIB website.
Song and Drama
Division
The Song
and Drama Division organized a large number of live, and sound
and light programmes to disseminate information about developmental
programmes. These included staging of 'Shatroopa' a sound and
light programme on Women's Empowerment Year, campaign on AIDS
prevention, anti-terrorism programmes in J&K and Punjab, use
of iodized salt, Quit India Movement, 50 years of India's Republic,
Pulse-Polio Immunization and Sindhu Darshan.
Research, Reference
and Training
The Research,
Reference and Training Division prepared several research papers
including a catalogue of Indian women writers and an approach
paper on communal harmony with focus on India's multi-religious
and multi-cultural society.
Field Publicity
The Directorate
of Field Publicity, which is responsible for educating the masses
at the grass-root level about the policies, plans and programmes
of the Government organized publicity campaigns on national integration,
communal harmony, women's empowerment, health and family welfare,
AIDS awareness, child rights, literacy and anti-tobacco and anti-drugs
themes.
