The Information and Broadcasting Minister, Smt.
Sushma Swaraj has called upon the ethnic media to convey the correct
and true image of the developments taking place in India and continue
to reflect out diversity in religion, language and opinions. She
said ethnic media is an important and credible medium for communication
between India and its diaspora on the one hand and the Indian
public and foreign communities on the other. Apart from reminding
the India diaspora, especially the younger generations, about
the strong and vibrant Indian cultural identity, this media articulates
a viewpoint without a foreign bias of the foreign mainstream media.
Smt. Swaraj was delivering the keynote address
at a symposium on "Entertainment, Ethnic Media and Diasporic
Identity" held here as a part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas.
She suggested an interaction and exchange of ideas between the
leaders of the Indian Ethnic Media, both print and electronic,
and their counterparts and opinion makers in India.
Referring to the entertainment sector, Smt.
Swaraj said that each entertainment and media icon of the Indian
diaspora remains our unofficial ambassador abroad. She saluted
these leaders and assured them of conducive policies to facilitate
their endeavours. She recounted the recent waves created by films
like Devdas, Lagaan, Jamila, Amaar Bhuwan, A Dog’s Day, Monsoon
Wedding, Warriors, Bend It Like Beckham and Hollywood Bollywood
and said that the entire spectrum of the entertainment sector
has created an awareness as never before, about India all over
the world. The exports of the entertainment industry from India,
which in 1998 was 40 million US dollars have crossed 180 million
US dollars in 2001. This entertainment and media explosion has
brought India closer to our diaspora and the geographical division
between Indians in India and the Indian diaspora is blurring if
not disappearing altogether.
Inviting the Indian diaspora to invest in
joint ventures in India Smt. Swaraj related some very important
policy initiatives taken by the Government, including the granting
of industry status to the entertainment sector, opening the print
media for the FDI, privatization of FM Radio, Community Radio
Service, opening of KU Band, DTH and the liberalized Uplinking
Policy. Prasar Bharati is further strengthening the DD India Channel
so that the best of Doordarshan can be shown to the Indian diaspora.
DD is looking for distributors abroad. A very important role is
played by Indian diaspora in nurturing the Indian entertainment
and media globally and in growth and value creation process. We
must join hands and bring out more interesting and better products,
which not only find markets among the 20 million strong Indian
diaspora but are also designed to capture the imagination of other
communities, Smt. Swaraj concluded.
